The Hearts of All Worlds
by AyumiFallassion
Summary: Over done, yes, but I'm hoping to be able to put a new spin on this. Anime Version of Kingdom Hearts! Return to Traverse Town. Vampires and Ninja and Fire-starters,oh my!
1. A Missing King

Yes! I live! And I have another story!

(Gets booed and tomatoed)

Oh give me a break, I'm in college! I'm trying to update as fast as I can, but I'm busy!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this!

For the record though, some of the characters WILL BE OOC. It's a crossover for crying out loud! Also, while main characters may change, I've decided that the Nobodys will stay the same, because they're just too cool as they are! Already have plans for the new Princesses though! But read up, XENMAS IS STILL HERE. Ok?

Disclaimer: I'm in college. Do you think I have enough money for my own books, let alone the rights to Kingdom Hearts?

So, without further ado, welcome to,

The Hearts of All Worlds

* * *

In a far away land of sand and sun, a man marched through the halls of a castle, his eyes set on a set of papers that was in his hands. White hair flowed out behind him, standing out in stark contrast against his black cloak, and red eyes glared as the man approached a pair of guards who were standing in front of the entrance to the Royal Throne Room. "Let me pass," he snapped.

At once, the two guards snapped up into strict attention, having learned before that it was not a good idea to piss off the vampire in front of them. With their spears held at attention, they pushed the doors open, letting the man in.

With his eyes cast down at the papers in his hands, the vampire strolled into the room, preoccupied with the reports. "Pharaoh Atem, I have reports that more refugees have sho-" Looking up, the man was quick to realize one thing: the room was empty before him! The magnificent throne was unoccupied, but in front of it, there was a small black cat with purple eyes, holding what looked to be a note in his mouth. Even from the distance that was between them, the Vampire King Duzell could see the Eye of Horus seal on the letter. At the sight of the seal, the vampire froze, his mind and undead-heart grinding to a stop, as the only two words in his vocabulary that fit the situation slipped from his mouth.

"Oh. Shit."

………………………………...

In the garden, a tall blond warrior was snoozing in the flowerbed, his sky-blue eyes closed as he snored lightly. A butterfly landed on his dark-blue armor, flapping its wings slowly as it rested, before flying off again.

Seconds later, the warrior was rudely awaken by a boot to the ribs. Grunting, the blond curled up, clutching his sides in pain, before glancing up at his attacker. "I swear, it wasn't me this time!" he said, jumping to conclusions at the pissed-off look on Duzell's face.

"I don't care if you raided the kitchens again Gourry, we've got larger problems right now!" Duzell spat, kneeling next to the dopey warrior. He waved the note under the man's nose, red eyes panicking as he squeaked out, "Pharaoh Atem's run away!" As the blonde blinked at him in confusion, the vampire shuddered as he placed his hand against his forehead. "Oh gods, what will Yuugi do when he finds out?!" he whimpered.

Gourry tilted his head at the panicky vamp. "Yuugi-sama?" he asked, still half-asleep.

Ignoring the warrior, Duzell suppressed a whimper at an even scarier thought. "We have to find him. What are we going to say to your wife? Or worse, Ishtar?!" he gasped.

"Lina-chan and Ishtar-san?"

"We better not tell them. Just let them wonder where we are and leave now," Duzell said, thinking out loud.

Smiling, Gourry waved at someone behind the undead mage. "Mornin' Prince Yuugi, Mornin' ladies!" he chirped, much to Duzell's everlasting horror. Turning around slowly, he was terrified at the sight of the three mentioned people, including his friend and keeper, Ishtar, who was cracking her knuckles threateningly. Eyes wide, the vampire lost hold on the magic that was keeping him in his original form, and popped back into his true form; a small, fuzzy kitten with tiny horns forming.

……………………………

Duzell shook his white head as he held the note in his hand, finally calm enough to stay in his true form again. "I hate to say it, but the Pharaoh has gone off," he said as he leaned against the pavilion. He held up the slightly torn note, holes torn by the kuroneko's fangs. "After fixing it, I was able to finally read it. It says, "To my friend and advisor Duzell,

"I know that my leaving will put you in a bind, especially with my Aibou, but I have been watching the skies as of late, and more stars are disappearing. The Heartless are destroying more worlds, and something has to be done. Go to Traverse Town, and look for the one with the Key, and stay with him. He will be the one to save the worlds.

Tell my partner that I'm sorry to leave him, and that I plan to return as soon as I can. And Princess Ishtar, I'm sorry, but Duzell must go without you this time. Same goes to you Lina-san." Duzell blushed as he read that little note. "And that's all that's on here."

After many long minutes of yelling, cursing, and the occasional fire-spell, Ishtar sighed as she leaned against the throne. "I know that Atem said you have to go, but can't you send someone else?" she asked. "One of your familiars or something!"

Duzell sighed as he shook his magnificent head. "You know that none of them can use magic, only I can." he said sadly. Grinning slightly, he traced a finger over her jaw line. "Besides, I thought you wanted to know where the rest of your family is," he bribed.

A slightly singed Gourry was hugging Lina as Yuugi sent orders for the only ship in the palace to be fitted and prepped for travel. "I'm sorry Lina-chan," he whispered, squishing the diminutive red head to his broad chest.

Lina sighed in annoyance at the blond before pushing herself back from him, looking up into his eyes. "Just bring me back some treasure, ok?" she asked, trying to hide her tears. Smiling, Gourry nodded before releasing her and following Duzell out to the hanger.

The ship in question was a history lesson in the making. Cobbled together with scrap-metal and magic, it had certainly seen better days. But it flew, and that was all that the two warriors needed. Being from technologically-inferior planets though, neither knew how to drive the old thing. So it was with great apprehension that they strapped themselves in as the pilots/mechanics powered up the ship. A pair of twins, Hikaru and Kaoru were refugees as well, but they had earned a place in Atem's court with their knowledge of technology, which rivaled that of the genius Seto. Luckily for the former CEO, the twins specialized in ships and transportation, while the blue-eyed business man was good at everything.

"This thing is so old, we don't have all of the navigation system in," they said in unison.

Hearing this, Duzell panicked as he scrambled at his seatbelt. "Wait, I don't want to g-"

"Yatta! Time to launch!" Hikaru and Kaoru yelled, grinning as they slammed their palms into the launch button. At once, the bottom of the hanger fell out, launching them down onto a ramp. Laughing, the strawberry-blonde boys hit the throttle, catapulting them up the ramp and into space, Duzell's screams echoing in their ears.

Back in the hanger, Lina, Ishtar, and Yuugi watched the ship vanish, comforting each other with their presence. "Do you think they'll be alright Yuugi-sama?" Lina asked, never turning from the sky.

Smiling, Yuugi grabbed Lina and Ishtar's hands in his. "I'm sure they'll be alright," he whispered, smiling softly at them. Unseen by the trio, a star twinkled, faded, and finally disappeared.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed it! Next is the world of our Hero. I have an idea of who I want, but I'm still not two sure. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to give me a shout.

And whoever can tell us who everyone is and where they're from get cyber cookies!

Till next time!


	2. The Door Opens

A second chapter in less than twenty four hours! Be honored people!!

Finally remembered who was to be the hero of this story though. Thank goodness. And I'm pretty sure no one's used this character before either. And just so you know, I don't want to update until I get at least ONE review. Just one, is that so much to ask?

Disclaimer: 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, Ok, I have five dollars and 25 cents. Do ya think I own it?

The Door Opens

* * *

It was dark in the city as wispy clouds rolled across the sky. Everyone was asleep, a reasonable action, as it was three in the morning. Everyone that is, except for a young boy sitting up in his room. Bright red hair shifted slightly as he turned to look in the mirror across from him, a grin on his sleepy face. "Dark, I know you're excited about tomorrow, but can you please let me sleep?" he asked.

The mirror didn't show his reflection. Instead, it showed another man who was taller than him and had longer, spiky purplish-blue hair. _"I keep telling you Daisuke, I can't help it!"_ the man exclaimed, dark red-purple eyes puzzled. _"I've got a feeling about tomorrow, and I can't really shake it!"_

Daisuke shook his head as he moved to his desk, staring out at the night sky. He could see the stars through the wisps of clouds, but for some reason, there seemed to be less of them. "Are we talking about a good feeling, or a bad one?" he asked, looking back over his shoulder. The depleted star light shined in his reddish-brown eyes.

Dark shrugged in the mirror. _"Both, I think. It's as if something's going to happen to us,"_ he answered slowly. Groaning, the thief scratched the back of his head in annoyance, hating being out of the loop in anything. _"I just don't know!"_ he muttered.

Yawning, Daisuke stretched before tramping back to bed, flopping down on the pillow. "Whatever you say Dark," he muttered, snuggling into the covers. He pulled the covers over his he as he grumbled at the spirit, "If you wake me up, so help me, I'll make sure we never pull another heist."  
………………………………

Four hours later found the teenager awake and stumbling towards the school, trying to suppress massive yawns. Three and a half hours of sleep were not enough for the fifteen-year old, and he already knew that school was going to be horrible today.

It was a few blocks away from the school when he ran into his two friends, Riku Harada, and Satoshi Hiwatari. The girl grinned and waved at Daisuke as he stumbled up to them, then grabbed his arm in concern. "Daisuke-kun, are you ok?" she asked.

Yawning, Daisuke nodded. "Y-yeah, I just couldn't get any sleep last night," he confessed. Satoshi looked at him knowingly, shifting his books in his arms.

"I had the same problem," the silver admitted softly. "A tiny voice that wouldn't stop, neh?" he asked, knowing Daisuke would get the reference. The boy had the same problem as the young thief in the form of a white-winged spirit. The main difference between Dark and Krad though, was the fact that Krad was more than a little insane.

Grinning, Daisuke nodded. Inwardly though, he was troubled as they continued on towards the school. 'If Krad senses something too, then maybe something IS going to happen…' he thought darkly.

Suddenly, time seemed to stop around the red-head. Surprised, he nearly ran into the frozen Satoshi before pulling up. Everything was an off-color of grays as he looked around, trying to figure out what had happened.

**"This world has been connected,"** a deep voice rumbled. Hearing it, Daisuke twirled around, backing up into a defensive position. What he saw was a tall figure in a long, black cloak. The hood was up, shrouding the man's face in darkness. Ignoring Daisuke's reaction, the man purred, **"Tied, to the Darkness. And soon to be completely eclipsed."**

"Who are you?" Daisuke barked, all trace of weariness gone. Mentally, he tried to call Dark, only to start to panic when he couldn't even sense the now-comforting spirit.

The figure seemed to smirk at the teen as it turned away. **"There is so much to learn,"** he purred, turning to look back at him momentarily. **"And you understand so little."**

"What are you talking about?!" Daisuke snapped, getting worried and a little scared of the figure.

The figure turned back in order to walk away. **"You who know so little, would not understand even if I told you,"** he said mockingly. Pissed, Daisuke scowled at the person, only to be distracted by the sudden appearance of a strange door, one that had never been in the square before. Turning back, he blinked to see that the man was gone.

A few seconds later, color returned to the world. Staggering, Daisuke looked around, trying to find the door again, but it had disappeared with the stranger in the black cloak. Puzzled and confused, Daisuke hoisted his backpack higher on his shoulder before trotting after his friends.

………………………………...

Later that night, during the robbery of a painting, Dark found himself on the roof of the museum, his faithful companion Wiz on his shoulders and ready to fly. As he crouched on the edge of the wall, he was surprised to see Satoshi standing at the edge of the roof as well. Grinning cheekily, the thief threw a mocking salute at the young man. _"Evenin' Commander!"_ he chirped. When he didn't get a normal reaction out of the teen, the spirit frowned as he crept closer to the boy.

"The Door has opened," Satoshi gasped, his normally blue eyes wide and tinted gold. The gold of Krad's eyes. Turning, the boy grinned maniacally, making Dark back up a little in case Krad lunged at him. "Don't you see Dark? The Door is open! We don't need to stay in this world anymore, li_ve this lie! We can go and see other places, other worlds!"_ he exclaimed, his voice deepening as he reached out to the thief.

Dark shook his head. As a spirit, he knew of the existence of other planes, but he never thought that his other half would be crazy enough to try and travel among them. _"Are you completely out of your mind Krad?"_ he asked sarcastically. Unknown to both boys, Riku had snuck up onto the roof as well, wanting to see what was going on herself.

Mockingly, Krad shook his head as his hair began to lengthen and lighten, his shirt ripping as long white wings formed_. "Not this time Dark. I'm of sound mind tonight. The darkness has connected the worlds together for the first time in history. Come with me Dark Mousy!"_

As Krad spoke, the shadows on the ground started to writhe and grow, taking the shape of humanoid creatures. Startled, Dark recoiled from the things, eyes wide as he stared at them. On his back, Wiz growled angrily at the creatures as they approached, and Dark suddenly found himself itching for a weapon of any kind. Above them, the sky started to swirl violently, blotting out all light but for the dark purple lightning that flashed though the clouds. Forgetting about the monsters for the moment, Dark stared up at the sky in amazement and fear as the clouds condensed into a ball of dark energy.

Krad's lips curved up in sadistic amusement, his transformation into his own form almost finished, as the ground beneath their feet started to liquefy into shadows. Tendrils of darkness snaked their way up his body, pulling him down into their dark embrace. Willingly, he let the shadows take him, closing his eyes as they pulled him further down.

'Satoshi!' Daisuke screamed mentally as he watched his friend. 'Dark, you gotta help him!' he begged, worried for his friend. Agreeing, Dark tried to grab the homicidal angel, only to stop as he noticed that the same shadows were trying to envelop him! Panicking, he tried to pull them off, mentally screaming for them to let go, but his hands went right through the tendrils.

Suddenly, the darkness disappeared, along with the monsters and Satoshi, leaving Dark and Wiz alone. Panting, Dark made to press his hand against his heart, only to be surprised by the appearance of a strange weapon in his hand. It appeared to be an over-sized key with a keychain hanging from the hilt.

Suddenly, the ball of darkness hanging in the sky exploded, creating a hole in the heavens. Startled, Dark flinched away from the thing, only to have to take flight as it started to pull at him, trying to suck him into its' depths.

_"Come on Wiz!"_ Dark shouted as his familiar struggled to get them back on the roof. Preoccupied with trying to escape, they didn't notice Riku until she screamed, losing her grip on the door to the stairwell. _"RIKU!!!!"_ Dark bellowed, reaching for the girl as she flew up straight at him.

Right as he thought he had her, she seemed to pass right through his arms, going straight into the vortex above. Terrified for her, Dark looked back over his shoulder in order to try and see her. In doing so though, the wind forced his body around so he was aimed into the black hole, and the last thing the thief remembered, was the sound of Daisuke screaming for help.

* * *

Come on, can you please review? Tell me what you want to see, any characters you want to see!

The cyber cookie offer from the first chapter still stands, FYI.

Please review for me, tell me what you think. Should I give up now, or keep going? Do you want to see a particular anime? Doesn't matter, just send me a note!

Later space pirates!


	3. Welcome to Traverse Town

Thank you Sparky McSparksparkster!! (Showers with cyber cookies) Perfect score! Hmmm, Yami no Matsuei, why didn't I think of that? Bleach and Trigun though, are scheduled for appearances. I fact, Bleach as already shown up, even though it wasn't that obvious. Black cats are just too generic in anime. And if you think Daisuke's a good choice, just wait until you see his Heartless. Kawaii!

As for the rest of you, (Waves hand) You Will read. You Will enjoy, and you Will review.

Oh hey, watch my notes! If you look carefully, you'll be able to find hints for other worlds that'll eventually show up! (like the last one wasn't that obvious...)

Disclaimer: It's already about 80 degrees, and I'm currently surviving without AC. What makes you think I can afford any of these animes/games/movies?

Welcome to Traverse Town (Please leave all enemies outside of the gate)

* * *

Snarling, Duzell stalked away from the ship, spitting at the twins. "Don't you DARE fly that damn thing again until we get the navigation working!" The vampire growled deep in his chest as he tried to regain his composure, drawing his cape around him. 

"Aw, come on Duzie, it wasn't that bad!" Gourry said as he climbed out of the ship.

The twins were right behind him, and they nodded in agreement. "That's right!" Hikaru said, hand on his hip. "Kaoru drove perfectly, unlike back home. He almost crashed into a tree the last time!" he claimed.

Upset, the second twin exclaimed, "Hikaru!" He hunched up on himself, hand to his mouth. "Saying things like that, when you know I try, it's just…" he trailed off, turning his head away.

Eyes wide, Hikaru leaned closer to his brother. "Kaoru," He gently pulled his brother closer to himself, hand under his chin in order to look in his eyes. "I'm sorry, I was just so proud, that it slipped out," he said in a low, husky voice. His twin seemed to melt into his arms, breathing his name.

Off to the side, a few of the native girls started squealing in delight, saying something about the 'wonders of brotherly love.' Still wrapped up in each other, the twins sauntered back onto the ship and closed the hatch. Grinning, they gave each other a thumbs up. "Even on a different world, we've still got it!" they declared.

Tired of the performance, Gourry and Duzell had marched off when the twins had started their little skit. Duzell shook his head at the two; they'd been doing that the entire flight. As they marched down the streets of Traverse Town, Gourry rubbed his arms nervously. "Rather quiet, isn't it?" he commented.

Duzell hummed as he nodded, silver hair shining in the street lights. "Everyone is probably hiding from the Heartless," he said, before suddenly turning around. "That's right, I forgot to mention Gourry, you can't tell anyone where we're from, got it?" he ordered.

Confused by the sudden order, Gourry scratched his head before asking the inevitable. "Why's that?"

Duzell sighed as they turned a corner, heading for the inn he normally stayed in when he came to Traverse Town with the Pharaoh. "Let's say you tell someone that you're from a different world. What do you think would happen?" he asked patiently.

After thinking for a few minutes, Gourry smiled as he got an idea. "They'd think we're crazy!" he exclaimed.

"Good, that's right," Duzell said, looking at the blond warrior. "Now, add in the fact that the Heartless are suddenly appearing. They might think we are their enemies," he explained, knocking on the door to the inn. Above their heads hung a carved cherry blossom for the inn's name, sakura.

Slowly, the door opened, revealing a young woman in a red fighting dress. White circles decorated the middle of the bottom, close to the hem line, and both of her short sleeves. Gourry only noticed this later though. What he first noticed, was, "Wow, you've got pink hair!"

Palming his face in embarrassment, Duzell groaned, "Sakura-san, please don't kill him yet, ok?"

Gritting her teeth, Sakura carefully released the door, revealing deep finger prints in the wood. "Only because you asked Duzerru-sama," she said, her native tongue influencing her speech in her anger. Moving away from the door, she gestured for the two men to enter.

Duzell and Gourry were so occupied by the inn keeper, that they never noticed the black streak that ducked into an alley nearby.

………………………………...

Yoruichi snickered at the two warriors under his breath, glad that he'd snuck a ride aboard that flying museum. Those idiots had no clue as to where to start to look. The cat though, already had an idea as to where to go.

Padding down the alley, he stopped in front of a young boy, who couldn't be older than thirteen. Yoruichi sniffed at his bright red hair, then backed off as a strange creature hissed at him from the boy's neck. The rabbit thing wasn't what Yoroichi was interested in though; the boy was clutching a key-shaped sword in his hand as if his life depended on it.

'His life might as well be depending on this thing,' the cat thought as he inched closer when the bunny calmed. Knowing he wasn't going to get any closer without getting the boy's friend riled up again, he stopped right at his feet and called up to him. "Kid, hey kid, wake up!" he yelled.

The boy groaned as he rolled his head back, resting it against the brick wall. His eyes cracked open, revealing their red-brown color, as he muttered, "Tell me that was a dream, Dark."

With a humph, Yoruichi did the only thing he could. He started scratching the heck out of the boy's ankle.

…………………………….

"Yeeeaooch!" Daisuke yelled as he shot up, fully awake. Looking around, he saw the opening to the alley, and the strange buildings beyond it. "Alright, so this isn't a dream then," he muttered as he levered himself up, using his new weapon as a crutch.

_'I could have told you that,' _Dark commented.

"Oh quiet in there," Daisuke murmured as he limped out of the alley, leaning on the wall. Behind him, Yoroichi tilted his head curiously as the boy started to talk to himself.

"Any clue _where_ we are?"

_'Your guess is as good as mine.'_

"Some help you are. And… what is that thing?" he yelped as a small black creature waddled down the path. Hearing him, the thing paused, then turned and jumped at the art thief. Yelping, Daisuke instinctively pulled his new sword up in time to block it, but he stumbled back as the creature leaped away.

"Go for the head!" Yoruichi yelled from behind the boy. Panicking, the teen listened to the mystery voice this time, and swung wildly at the critter's antennae-covered head. Luckily, he managed to land a solid blow, and as he watched, the creature dissolved in to specks of shadows.

A clapping from the side made the teen twirl around. Leaning against one of the buildings was another teen a few years older than him. The newcomer had black hair that spiked up in the back like a cockatoo, a blue shirt, white shorts, and bandages wrapped around his arms and legs. On the back of his shirt was a red and white design that looked like a ping pong paddle or a fan. Strangest of all was the head band around his forehead. In the middle of the metal plate was a weird swirly design, almost like a leaf.

Smirking, the man pushed off of the wall and sauntered over to Daisuke, hands in his pockets. "Not bad, for an amateur," he remarked. Pulling his hands in front of his chest, he quickly flipped through a series of lightning-fast gestures before saying, "Can you please move to the side for a second?"

Before the Daisuke could react, the young man pulled his hands up to his face, two fingers pointed up, and shouted, "Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu!" Taking a deep breath, he started blowing out fire in a steady stream of flames. Following their path, Daisuke watched in amazement as the other teen roasted a new trio of the strange creatures before he finally ran out of air.

Relaxing, Daisuke smiled as he stood back up, having had to fall down in order to dodge in time, and offered his hand to the other teen. "I'm guessing you're on my side then?" he asked.

With a smirk, the older boy looked Daisuke in the eyes. "You're far too trusting," he said before a hand flashed forward, pinching his neck. Within seconds, Daisuke's eyes rolled back in his skull as he collapsed in a dead faint. Again.

Laughter from the side street caught the teen's attention as he lugged the boy up in a fireman's carry. "You're getting soft, Sasuke-teme," the newcomer said as he walked over to help him out. If Sasuke was all dark colors, then this young man was as bright as a beam of sunshine. Blond hair, orange jumpsuit, blue eyes, and whisker marks made up this teen, as well as an identical headband. "Before coming here, you wouldn't have warned him before using that technique," he finished as they staggered towards the inn, the cat following them.

"Shut up dobe," Sasuke muttered as he kicked the back door open. Letting the boy go, he pointed towards the bed. "Set him there, and get the blade away from him. I'll go and get the others," he ordered before jumping away into the night.

"Stupid Uchiha," Naruto muttered as he carefully laid the boy down on the bed. Slowly, he pried the boys' fingers from around the hilt of the weird sword. Once it was free, he set it aside, letting it lean against the wall.

Turning back to the boy, Naruto was surprised to see a cat wrapped around the teen's ankles, looking up at his placidly. Up around his neck, a rabbit-like thing growled softly at the cat, but refused to abandon his friend. Shaking his head, Naruto grinned at the cat. "I guess you know what's going on here?" he asked in his rumbling voice.

"Of course," Yoruichi replied, a smirk on his whiskered face. "You just get the others, for we have little time."

* * *

Ok peeps, you know the drill. Review!! Or else I sic a little white manju bun on ya! 

Later

* * *


	4. Meet the Team

Sparky: Close enough! Yes, Tsubasa is one of them. I'm surprised that you missed that one obvious hint though! Remember, it's the hearts of ALL worlds, not just anime! Oh, and it's the older Team 7, not the younger.

Disclaimer: (runs from crazy lawyers) I keep saying that I don't own squat! Leave me alone!

Meet the Team

* * *

In another part of the inn, Gourry sighed in contentment as he leaned back from the table, finally finished. As if knowing this, Duzell returned from the kitchen, wiping his lips delicately as he carried the tired Sakura back to the counter. "Thank you Sakura-san," he intoned as he helped the woman sit. 

Sakura looked up at the vampire, wearing a grin that pretty much spoke volumes. "Any time Duzell-sama, she said in a loopy voice, placing her head down on her arms.

Seeing her weakened condition, Duzell looked over at Gourry. "Gourry, it there anything with protein over there?" he asked. When the fighter gave him a confused look, he sighed. "Is there any meat left?" he reiterated.

"Why didn't you say that before?" Gourry asked as he looked through the platters. Finally, he emerged from the mountain of dishes, an untouched hamburger in hand.

"Perfect," Duzell said as he snatched the burger from Gourry's hand, much to the blonde's protest. "Here Sakura-san, eat this, it'll help you recover," he offered, sitting her up so she could eat. Nodding, the young woman took the burger from him and started to wolf it down, visibly recovering as her chakra got a jump-start on replenishing her missing blood.

Sitting down at the table, Duzell sighed as he helped himself to one of the few remaining pieces of fruit. While he may be in the form of his original body, his true form was still that of a kyawl, so he still has to eat fruit every now and then.

Sighing happily, Sakura leaned back as she looked over at the to warriors. "So, how's the Pharaoh doing over in his world?" she asked. At once, she regretted it as the two of them flinched, and she lowered her voice as she asked, "That bad?"

"Worse," Duzell grumbled, tearing viciously at the peach in his hand. "He's gone missing!" he exclaimed. Groaning, he leaned against his free hand, eyes closed as he cursed his employer. "He knows that Yuugi can't rule that land by himself, at least, not forever! And we'd just gotten a new wave of refugees as well! Who's going to explain what happened to them!?" he moaned.

Gourry perked up at the mention of new refugees. "Were any of them from my world?" he asked. He and Lina had submitted a list of names when they'd first arrived, and were still hoping to find any of their friends. One had been found already, but he was living in Traverse Town; something about good eating.

His hopes were broken when Duzell shook his head. "No, but there were more people from Sakura-san's world." He sat up as he described some of them. "Two men with silvery-white hair, one short, the other long, a teen with white eyes, and this one boy who used one of your 'jutsu' to, well, change his appearance," he finished, blushing at the memory.

"He changed into a naked woman, didn't he?" Sakura dead-panned.

"Hey, must be Konohamaru!" a deep voice chirped from the door. Turning, the bright-red Duzell was only mildly surprised to see Naruto standing in the doorway, a rather buxom woman standing behind him. She was obviously another ninja, if the muscles in her arms were any kind of a hint, and Duzell shook his head, wondering what kind of society could create so many people with such strong hearts.

Seeing the woman, Sakura smiled as she bowed from her seat. "Good evening Tsunade-sensei," she chirped.

Tsunade smiled as she looked over at her apprentice. "Ah good, you're here Sakura-chan. Come with me, this'll be a good chance for you to work on your diagnosis abilities," she ordered, heading for one of the back rooms.

Carefully, the young woman slid down from her chair, still a little wobbly. "What is it, do we have another one?" she asked.

Behind her, Naruto grinned as he nodded. "Yeah, and this one's cooler than the others! He actually managed to take out one of the Heartless!" he exclaimed.

"How'd he do that Naruto-kun?" Sakura asked as she paused for a second.

Naruto scratched the back of his head. "He was carrying a sword with him, even though it's obvious that he knows less about swords than we do!" he explained. "Weird shape too; looked almost like a key," he commented as he held the door open for the young woman.

Hearing this, Duzell's red eyes went wide as he looked over at the blond warrior. "It couldn't be that easy," he groaned as he stood up to go after the ninja.

"What couldn't be that easy?" Gourry asked as he got up to follow.

Groaning, Duzell rolled his eyes before answering. "A key? We're supposed to look for a key?" he reminded.

"You mean like the ones Atem-sama use?" Gourry asked.

Duzell nodded as he threw away the peach pit. "Exactly, except I doubt this kid will have two like the Pharaoh does," he said as he pushed the door open.

………………………

"So, this is the kid you were talking about?" Tsunade asked as she looked at the art thief.

From Daisuke's ankles, Yoruichi nodded. "Yes. He is the one who will defeat the Heartless, and restore our worlds," he said with confidence.

Naruto frowned as he picked up Wiz by the scruff, holding the bunny in his arms. "Hey, how is a scrawny little thing like him going to save our homes?" he asked, petting the bunny in his arms.

Sakura rolled her eyes as she lifted Daisuke's arm, checking his pulse. "Didn't you see the sword you took from him?" she asked, jerking her head in the direction of the key. "I think he only has a mild concussion Tsunade-sama," she said, looking at Daisuke's pupil next.

"Probably from when he did his head on the ground." Hearing the new voice, everyone looked up to see Sasuke standing in the doorway. Behind him stood a taller man with a goofy grin and violet eyes. Tousled brown hair framed his face as he waltzed in after Sasuke, plopping down in a chair next to the door.

"Do we want to know what you did to him Sasuke-kun?" Sakura asked in a tired voice as Tsunade went through the seals for a healing technique. "Oh, and hi Tsuzuki-san," she added in an afterthought. Hearing her, the man grinned as he waved a hand in greeting. In answer, Sasuke just shrugged, a smirk on his face.

As Tsunade started healing the boy, the door burst open, Duzell and Gourry marching in. As one, their eyes were drawn to the sword against the wall, and Duzell exclaimed, "The Keyblade!"

Gourry scratched the back of his head as he looked at the teen. "So he's the one we have to follow?" he asked.

Before Duzell could snap at his dimwitted friend, Daisuke groaned as he started to wake up. Hearing him, the others backed up to give him some space.

………………………………

'Oooowwwwww,' Daisuke groaned mentally, screwing his eyes closed as he turned away from the light in his face. 'Dark, what in the world hit me this time?' he asked.

_'Most likely that guy you were talking to,' _Dark commented, ghostly arms folded as he shook his metaphorical head. _'Whoever he was though, he was right; you are too trusting,' _he said.

Groaning again, Daisuke forced his eyes open, trying to adjust to the bright lights in front of him. An unfocused face hovered in front of his eyes, a face framed by familiar light-red hair. "It's about time you woke up," she said.

Blinking, trying to clear his vision, Daisuke groaned slightly as he looked up at the girl, a smile starting to form. "I, I'm glad you're ok Riku," he muttered, reaching up to try and grab her shoulder.

_'Ah, kid? I don't think-'_

"Riku? Who's that?" the girl asked as Daisuke's vision finally came into focus, revealing a young woman with pink hair and green eyes. "My name is Sakura!" she stated proudly.

Embarrassed, Daisuke shook his head slowly, sitting up on the bed. "Never mind," he said sadly. Looking around, he was surprised to find himself in a room, surrounded by a group of people he didn't know, including,

"You!" Daisuke snapped as he spotted Sasuke, scooting as far away from him as he could. Smirking, the teen nodded to him as he walked over to the bed.

"So," he said in a condescending tone. "You're the one that the Keyblade chose." Without a care, he picked up the sword from where it was leaning against the wall, going through a few simple moves with it. To everyone's surprise, it vanished in a flash of light, only to reappear in Daisuke's hands a split second later.

Daisuke shook his head in confusion as he stared at the strange weapon. "But I don't even know HOW to use a sword, so why me?" he asked.

At this, a man with red eyes and long white hair shrugged as he seemed to float over to him. "Who knows? But if it's the Keyblade's will, then so be it," he said, kneeling in front of the young thief. "And that means that you are the one we are supposed to follow," he said in a decisive voice.

"What?!" Daisuke yelped, backing away from the man.

Taking this as his cue, Tsuzuki stood up from the corner and calmly placed his hand on Daisuke's shoulder. He smiled reassuringly when the boy looked up at him, helping him relax a little. "If everyone would sit down, I can explain all the details," the Shinigami offered.

"Years ago, a man named Ansem the wise was researching the heart. He thought that if he could understand everything there was to know about the heart, then he might be able to harness the power of a person's heart." Tsuzuki nodded over at Gourry and Duzell. "I believe your Pharaoh was one of the people who helped him in his research," he stated.

Duzell nodded from where he was leaning against the wall. "He did. He also was the one to warn him against his research. He said that there were things that humans were not meant to know," he said.

Tsuzuki nodded in agreement. "And he was right too. Ansem was the one who first created the Heartless, and as such, was the first to fall to them."

Daisuke looked up at the man in curiosity. "How do you know all of this?" he asked.

Tsuzuki smiled bitterly. "My world was one of the first to fall," he said simply. "I'm a Death God, a collector of wandering souls. Because of this, we were closer to the darkness than other worlds." Shaking his head, he took a deep breath before continuing. "Ever since, the darkness has connected the worlds together, and the Heartless has been using this to spread. You see, everyone has a little bit of darkness in their hearts, and this is what the Heartless use."

Tsunade picked up the thread at this point, giving Tsuzuki a chance to get a breath of air. "The Heartless steal the hearts of people and creatures, and use them to grow stronger. As for the person themselves, they become Heartless as well." She pointed at the Keyblade in Daisuke's hand. "They fear the Keyblade, because it's the only thing that can truly kill them. But because of how strong your heart is, they'll never stop coming after you."

Daisuke shook his head slowly as he looked down at the weapon in his hand. "So, what am I supposed to do?" he asked.

"In every world, there are places that mean the most to the people of the planet itself," Yoruichi stated from Daisuke's ankles.

"Waah!" Daisuke yelped as he recoiled from the cat. "Y-you ca-can talk!" he stammered.

With a smirk, Yoruichi jumped up onto the bed. "Are you listening or not?" he asked in a commanding tone. Gulping slightly, Daisuke nodded. "Good. Now, I'm one of the many from my world who can travel from place to place." He looked over at Tsuzuki. "I'm from a similar organization as you, only we're known as Soul Reapers," he stated. "Your task, Daisuke, is to find these centers, and use the Keyblade to 'seal' them. Only then will that world be safe from the Heartless."

"But first, we're gonna have to train ya!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning as he continued to pet Wiz.

"By who though? I doubt Gourry here can teach him," Duzell said, glancing at the absent-minded blonde.

Sakura hummed as she thought about the people available in Traverse Town. "Well, Hotohori-sama could, or even Van-sama," she offered.

'Van?' Daisuke and Dark thought together, getting the mental picture of an SUV.

"Nah, Van-sama doesn't charge aggressively enough still," Naruto joked. "And Kratos-san is still looking for his son, so he's out. What about the guy in green?"

"The blond with the ears? And the white hose?" Sakura asked.

"No, Link is patrolling the border, he won't be back for another week," Sasuke said.

"What about the rurouni? The one with the red hair," Sakura asked.

"Nah, he's currently laid up do ta injuries during a fight," Naruto offered. "He won't be up for anything more than hunting for a while."

"Hotohori-sama it is then," Sakura stated, standing up from her seat on the stool. "Sasuke-kun can go and see him in the morning. As for right now, you look like you could use some food," she offered.

From the corner, Gourry cheered, "Yay! Food!"

Shaking his head, Duzell smacked Gourry over his. "Idiot, you just ate!" he barked as he stood to follow Sakura.

"So?" Gourry asked with a smile. "Always room for more!"

Mentally, Daisuke sweat-dropped. 'Dark? These are the people who're helping me; should I be worried?' he asked, only for the spirit to start laughing at him.

……………………………...

In a different world, another teen was slowly waking up. Groggily, Satoshi forced his eyes open, luckily back in his own body. Slowly, his eyes came back into focus, revealing a lush, wild forest surrounding the clearing he was in. With a groan, he sat up, hand pressed to his throbbing head, and turned around in to see an old Japanese-style castle. It seemed to be abandoned, but he knew that was his best bet to finding out where he was. Carefully, he stood up on shaky legs and wobbled towards the gate-

-unaware of the malevolent red eyes that followed his every move.

* * *

Try to guess Satoshi's world. I dare you. 

Please, review for me! I'd like to know if I'm doing ok. Think of it as equivelant exchange: You review, I update, and my updates can get better if you tell me what needs improving! See!

Later!


	5. The First Step to Any Journey

alphaskiier : Hotohori and Tsuzuki will mostly get small segments of screen time, but they will be back, I promise!!

Sparky: Dude, no offense, but if you haven't seen the movie series I was hinting at, then you must have been living in a cave!! The one I'm alluding to has become a part of American culture!! As for the castle? Maybe... (shifty eyes)

Minamotogirl: Hope you enjoy this update!!

Have a blessed Easter people!!

And thanks to my beta Akumako Ronso! You rock girl!

Disclaimer: Am I male? Do I look rich? Can I sing? Well, actually, forget that last one, I can sing, but not like the people who appear in this one! Since the answers were no though, then I don't own squat! And I'm a proud DEAR for the record.

The First Step to Any Journey

* * *

A week had passed since Daisuke first learned about his future role as 'Savior of the Worlds' and considering what was going on, he thought he was taking things in stride. As far as he was concerned, he was going to take things day by day for a while.

And it was a nice day too as he walked back to the Sakura Inn from Hotohori's dojo. The sun was shining for once, the Heartless activity was at a minimum, his lessons with the former Emperor were going well, and only a few people had fallen through into Traverse Town over the past couple of days.

As he thought of this, the sky flashed above him. _'Did you have to jinx us?!'_ Dark growled mentally as a tear in the sky formed, and a large figure was disgorged right above his head. Screaming frantically, Daisuke's training kicked in as he rolled to the side in time for the newest member of Traverse Town to land with a rumbling crash.

Coughing from the dust that had been thrown up by the impact, Daisuke staggered to his feet as he groaned. _'What the HELL hit us?!'_ Dark griped mentally.

'I'm not too sure Dark,' Daisuke thought as he approached the strange blue mound. 'It looks almost like a, like a,'

"Dragon!" Daisuke yelped as the dust started to finally settle. It WAS a dragon, a blue one the color of sapphires. It was injured with gashes to the neck and wings, but besides that, was only knocked out. A saddle was strapped to it's back, and as Daisuke walked around it, he found the crumpled form of a young man.

"Oi, are you ok?" Daisuke asked as he kneeled next to the unconscious blond. As he looked, he noticed graceful, almost noble facial features, and a red sword strapped to his side. "Hey, wake up, before the Heartless show up!" he said frantically, shaking the boy's shoulder.

With a groan, the young man started to awaken. Besides him, the dragon began to stir as well, curling it's head under it's wing pathetically, like a bedraggled chick. Shaking his head slightly, the man patted the dragon's shoulder comfortingly, saying something in a different language. It sounded similar enough to English that Daisuke was able to pick out a few words, mostly "…alright….Sapphira, but….hit me."

Shaking his head, Daisuke sat back on his thighs as he addressed the blond. "Are you two ok?" he asked, including the dragon in the conversation.

Hearing him, the man lurched away, hand scrambling for his sword. Startled as well, Daisuke leapt back as well, Keyblade coming to his hand. "I don't want to hurt you!" Daisuke called as he fell back into a defensive position that Hotohori had all but bashed into his brain.

Obviously confused, the young man relaxed a little as he leaned against the blue mound of leather and wings, saying something hesitantly in his almost-English. "Why…. not understand….?" he asked, holding the dragon's head under his arm. The dragon itself was bristling at the red-haired thief, but was a little more relaxed then the sword-bearer. It nudged it's broad head against the teen's arm, and after a moment, he sheathed his sword.

Watching their actions together, the thief in him was curious about their relationship. 'Can the dragon understand me?' Daisuke wondered. Testing the theory, he turned to the oversized lizard, lowering his Keyblade. "Can you two stand and walk?" he asked. In response, the dragon shook itself free of the teen's grasp and lurched to it's feet. When the young warrior tried to stand up, the dragon, who was larger than most of the buildings, picked him up delicately with it's teeth in order to place him in the saddle.

"Well, that answers my question," Daisuke muttered, Dark nodding in the back of his mind. Louder, he addressed the dragon, who was looking down at him curiously. "Follow me to the inn, someone there can help your friend," he called.

'Thank you…' whispered through his mind with a decidedly feminine voice!

Daisuke lurched from the path in surprise, turning back to look at the dragon. "You can talk too!" he yelped. Regally, the dragon nodded her head. Shaking his own head, Daisuke mentally tallied it as just another oddity of Traverse Town before walking towards the inn again. "Well, can you tell me you names then?" he called back as the blue lizard walked up unto her head was level with him.

'I am Sapphira, and my rider is known as Eragon,' Sapphira offered.

Daisuke grinned, unconsciously reaching up to scratch an eye ridge. "Pleased to meet you! I'm Daisuke, and I'm taking you to the Sakura Inn. Either Tsunade or Sakura can take care of Eragon," he offered.

The rest of the way was spent talking to the responsive dragon, Eragon resting against her back. As soon as they reached the inn, Daisuke could tell by the yelling that someone else had shown up as well. There were two new male voices, plus Sakura and Tsunade. Sasuke and Naruto couldn't be heard, so Daisuke figured that they were out hunting and patrolling for the Heartless. He vaguely recognized one of the male voices as Korean, but sadly, he didn't understand a word of Korean.

Daisuke was startled out of his thoughts when Sapphira nudged his shoulder. 'Those strange black creatures that brought us here, can they be eaten?' she asked, staring down into the pavilion. Turning, he saw a trio of Heartless coming towards him.

Grinning, Daisuke shook his head. "No, I don't think so. Eating one might actually give it a better chance at your heart," he explained. "Fire and swords kill them though," he offered.

Seeming to almost grin, the dragon reared her head back, and spat a trio of fireballs at the three Heartless. At once, they shrieked as they burst into flame. Hearing the shrieks, Sakura, Tsunade, and two men looked out the door and window, only to gape in awe at the sight of Sapphira. Seeing them staring at her, Sapphira puffed out her chest as she kneeled next to the door. Slowly, she lowered her head so that Sakura and Tsunade could look her eye to large eye. 'Yoroshiku ne,' she offered in a perfect imitation of Daisuke.

Laughing, Sakura kneeled next to the dragon, running her hands over Sapphira's bright blue scales in delight. "Well, aren't you the most BEAUTIFUL thing ever!" she crowed, scratching her behind her crest.

Groaning, one of the two new men leaned out of the door. He looked to be only eighteen, with short black-brown hair and brown eyes. Looking at Daisuke, he rattled something off in Korean, only to be answered by the second new man. Where the first one was young, this one was much older, with long brown hair in cornrows and curls, and blue contacts in. Looking over at Daisuke, he gave the boy a pleading look. "Micky-kun asked if you know Korean or English," he stated in a deep, melodious voice.

Daisuke shook his head. "I only know a little English, sorry," he said.

The corn-rowed man groaned as well as he leaned against the doorframe. "It's been forever since I've had to use Korean, I'm starting to forget it!" he bemoaned. "And my English was never the best to begin with!"

Shaking his head slightly, Daisuke turned to the younger man. "I am called Daisuke, what is, your name?" he asked in slow, faltering English.

The teen grinned in relief as he recognized the language. "I'm known as Micky, and it's nice to meet you!" he said in fluent English.

"Finally! Someone here can understand him!" Duzell growled from within the inn.

"We could! But not as well as Gackto-sama could," the twins chirped. Daisuke had met them a little after Duzell and Gourry, and the two had been searching the shops of Traverse Town for the parts they needed for the navigation system in the ship. So far, they had collected enough to get to the next world, but Duzell was still apprehensive.

Daisuke grinned as he heard Duzell bellow, "Then why didn't you two help out?!"

Suddenly, there was a loud **'Bong!'** from the bell tower in the pavilion. Startled, Daisuke twirled around in order to see what was going on; the bell only rang at twelve and midnight. The ground suddenly shook, and Daisuke urged everyone to get down, thinking it was an earthquake.

_'I don't think this is an earthquake Daisuke!'_ Dark yelled. _'It feels more like something's coming at us!'_

'I sense it too Dark!' Daisuke yelped mentally as he fought to keep his balance. 'But what is it?!'

His thoughts were answered at once when the bell in the tower seemed to explode outward, falling towards the square. A swarm of Heartless oozed out of the cobblestones, rising up to meet the bell.

_'Well,'_ Dark thought in surprise. _'Now we know where all the Heartless have been lately,'_ he finished.

All of the Heartless seemed to meld together as the bell landed in the middle of the pile, enveloping the metal as they squished upwards. Arms formed, then legs and a torso, and the bell became the head as the Heartless solidified into a metal-like substance. Claws were at the end of the makeshift hands and feet, and the Heartless symbol was on the middle of the 'chest' of the beast.

"Holy, crap," Gackt muttered as he stared at the creature, basically speaking for everyone. Daisuke was frozen in fear as he stared up at the new Heartless with wide eyes, Keyblade held loosely in one hand. In his head, Dark was screaming at him to snap out of it, trying desperately to take over at the creature charged at them.

A sudden flash of bright red flames from Sapphira halted the Heartless, slamming Daisuke out of his paralysis in time to dodge to the side. 'Sorry Dark,' he thought to the spirit in his head. 'I haven't froze like that since my fourteenth birthday,' he thought to himself.

A flash of silver in the corner of his eye alerted him to Duzell's presence, Gourry charging up behind him, sword drawn. The vampire was chanting something in his own tongue, but his eyes were urging Daisuke to attack the thing.

Heartened by the support of his friends, Daisuke grinned in relief as he hefted the Keyblade, trying to find a weakness in the creature before him. Up on the roof of the inn, Yoruichi was watching him curiously, wondering how the young warrior would react in his first real fight.

_'The joint of the legs and arms look weak, go for them!'_ Dark barked, using Daisuke's eyes to survey the battle. Taking the advice, Daisuke charged forward, slashing at the joint of the left arm, yelling for Gourry to do the same thing. Seeing Daisuke's plan, Duzell launched a wave of magical fire at the other side of the Heartless, melting the metal a little. Gourry was a whirling dervish as he went after a leg, destroying it almost at once.

Off balance, the Heartless teetered as it tried to keep upright, slashing it's clawed hands at Daisuke and Gourry, batting at them as if they were flies. Gourry was flown back into the wall, but not before taking out the other leg, dropping the Heartless to the ground. Daisuke, warned by the spirit in his head, managed to duck in time, and slashed upwards as the arm passed over his spiky head. The Keyblade passed through the arm like butter, and the young thief had to roll to the side in order to keep from getting squished by the falling metal.

Behind him, Duzell grinned in amazement at the skill that Daisuke was showing. 'If he was able to learn this much after only a week under Hotohori's tutelage, then maybe we have a chance at this,' he thought as he launched a blast of wind in the shape of swords, severing the final arm. "Now Daisuke! Finish it!" he yelled as he wavered on his feet, having used too much of his magic.

Hearing the vampire king, Daisuke tightened his grip on the Keyblade as he charged the teetering Heartless. With a scream, he jumped, slashing down into the thing's head, splitting it in two. With a flash, the teen was repelled back, slamming into the side of the inn as the Heartless exploded in a spectacular light show.

Daisuke didn't see this show though; he'd been knocked out when he hit the inn. In his mind, Dark grinned at him as he crossed his metaphorical arms. _'Good job Daisuke!'_ he congratulated. _'Now,'_ the thief stated as he helped the boy fall into a deeper sleep, _'it's my turn to meet the locals.'_ The last thing the spirit picked up from his host was a hope that he didn't flirt with Sakura too much.

Back in the outside world, Duzell and the others were crowded around the boy as Sakura worked on reviving him, when suddenly, the young thief's eyes snapped open, revealing a deep purple color. Seconds later, his entire body flashed, morphing into Dark's older and taller form. Limbs lengthened, and red hair changed to long, dark purple-blue. Luckily, he was wearing the outfit he'd had on the night the Heartless attacked, so it fit his longer frame.

With a groan, Dark stood up, cracking his joints as he muttered to himself. _"Finally, I thought I'd never be allowed out again."_ Grinning, he offered his hand to Sakura, who was staring at him in fear and awe. _"Does the beautiful lady need a hand up?"_ he offered suavely. Blushing, Sakura grabbed his hand, letting him pull her up to her feet.

Turning to the others, Dark pouted. _"Oh don't look so surprised, you can't tell me that you didn't think that something was off about Daisuke,"_ he argued, twirling the Keyblade in his hand.

Duzell managed to shake off his confusion first. "Personally, I'm more worried about why that bell attacked us," he griped, gesturing behind himself.

"Most likely the answers are at the bell tower itself," Sakura offered, pulling her hand free from the thief's grasp.

_"Shall you lead the way fair maiden?"_ Dark asked, bowing as he gestured for Sakura to lead. Blushing again, Sakura started to jog down the pavilion, followed closely by Dark, Duzell and Gourry.

Gourry, ever the dim one, chirped at Dark, "Who are you anyway?"

Laughing, Dark placed his hands on his hips, grinning at the warrior. _"I'm known as the Phantom Thief Dark, also known as the Dark Angel of the Art world,"_ he bragged.

Scratching his head, Gourry gave the spirit a confused look. "…What does that mean?" he asked.

At once, Dark was knocked off of his high horse. _"Um, it means that I'm an art thief,"_ he explained. _"Daisuke's family have been carrying me in their blood for generations."_

"So you're a spirit then?" Duzell asked as they rounded a corner, coming up on the tower.

Dark shrugged. _"Basically. I'm one half of an old artwork. The other half, a spirit named Krad, is in the body of Daisuke's friend,"_ he explained to the vampire.

"We're here," Sakura announced as they stopped in front of the old tower. The tower was made of old stone blocks, and ivy was creeping up the north side. Everyone could tell where the bell had exited; the top of the tower had been blown off, and pieces of wood scaffolding littered the ground.

Dark whistled, impressed by the sheer level of destruction that had been wrought upon the bell tower. _"So, now what?"_ he asked cheekily. The Keyblade was casually slung over a shoulder at this point, and he lowered it as he inspected the building.

Suddenly, the tip of the strange weapon glowed, and Dark recoiled from it as a jet of light shot out, striking a keyhole-shaped stone in the tower. The light increased, blinding everyone present for a second, but the clear sound of something being locked could be heard.

"What just happened!?" Duzell yelped, rubbing at his watering eyes.

Dark stared at the stone, nonplussed. _"I don't know for sure but,"_ he stared at the Keyblade in his hand. _"I think I just sealed this world from the Heartless."_

"That easily?" Sakura asked as she walked up next to the thief, blinking the spots away from her eyes.

"Well, isn't this bell tower the heart of the town?" Gourry asked in a rare flash of intelligence. "I mean, it acts as a landmark, and it helps us with time, so why not?"

"We're not saying that this shouldn't be the key's lock," Sakura argued.

_"It's just a surprise that it was this easy,"_ Dark finished. Grinning, the thief leaned back against the tower. _"Well, we'll just have to see over the next few days. Hopefully the Heartless will stop showing up,"_ he advised. He froze as a flash of pain shot through his torso, and sighed in annoyance. _"Ok, I gotta go before I damage Daisuke anymore. Take care, my lady!"_ he said, saluting at Sakura before collapsing back against the foundation of the bell tower, reverting back to Daisuke's form.

………………………………...

In a dark room, six figures were seated around a pale albino girl. Her eyes were blank as she held a mirror that showed them what was going on in Traverse Town.

One snorted as they watched Duzell sling the unconscious Daisuke into his arms. "All this lovey-dovey crap is making me sick!" he exclaimed, tugging at long dark locks of hair.

His neighbor grinned evilly in the dim glow from the mirror, long tongue snaking out to lick thin lips. His gold eyes seemed to glow with an unholy light. "Personally, it makes me want t-"

"Yeah, we know what YOU want to do, pedophile!"

"What did you call me?!"

"Just because you have that tongue doesn't make you God's gift to little boys!"

"I'll show you little!"

"Gentlemen, that's enough!" an insidious voice rolled from the one person in a cloak. Only his hand could be seen, and they were the hands of an old man. "This is not the time to be arguing amongst ourselves, now is it?" he asked in a low tone.

The spiky-haired male sighed. "Yeah yeah, just tell the snakey-one to keep his weird thoughts to himself," he griped, jerking a thumb at the other male. With a humph, the taller man turned away, giving the smaller a chance to stick his tongue out at him and gesture rudely.

"Gentlemen, if you please, we have bigger problems to worry about at the moment," a tall man in a strange hat called out, trying to call them to order. He was almost the same age as the cloaked man, but didn't have nearly as many wrinkles. "In case you've forgotten, the boy was not supposed to be able to defeat the Heartless that easily," he barked, gesturing at the mirror, where Sakura was passing her hands over Daisuke, healing his bruises and trying to awaken him.

A young man with a mask and long black hair grumbled under his breath before speaking up. "We knew this was one of our weaker models, and that there was a chance that he could destroy it." The man rubbed his thumb over the grill-like openings in his mask as he watched the mirror, eyes fixated on the young warrior. "He is strong, this has proven it."

The first man barked out a laugh as he perched on his heels, straightening his skort before speaking up. "More like lucky you mean, crow-boy."

"And his other side, this Dark, may prove to be a hazard to our plans," the cloaked figure said, earning a nod from the second male.

The final figure, a man with long black hair in tendrils smirked evilly, red eyes glowing with their own light. "Ah, but that is where my young friend here may come in handy. He is the same as the Keybearer, all he needs is a little push," he assured.

The skort-wearing man chuckled under his breath. "We'll leave that to you, we all know how good you are at giving mental pushes," he said before laughing at his own private joke.

In the background, a solitary figure stood in wait, wondering what he'd gotten himself into this time around….

* * *

Can you guess at any of the villians? Some are easy, others are harder, but if you can guess at least four of them, then you get a sneak peek at the next chapter, and an overview of the other worlds that are going to be visited. Of course, this only works if you sign in, or at the least give me your email address.

Until next time!!


	6. Katana to Tsubasa

Largest chapter yet! And they're only gonna keep getting bigger!!

FYI, I may not be able to update again in a while. Finals are starting, and I'm rather swamped. So enjoy, ok? Oh, and I know I made Gackt a little whiny, but give him a break, he's in a new world with no one familiar around. I thing that entitles him to a little whining.

Also, as far as I'm concerned, volume 14 and up of Tsubasa have yet to happen. Personally, I didn't like what CLAMP did to Syaoran and the others, so until I get more information of that, Syaoran is Syaoran, and Fai is human and has both eyes! If you don't know what I'm talking about, look up You're correct on both counts!

PeaceLoveOcelot: Micky is part of a new Korean band, known as Dong Bang Shin Ki, or DBSK. Look them up!!!! As for the movie, it was in the opening part of chapter three.

alphaskiier: You know I'm typing more! Tell me who you thing they are, I'll give you a preview for the next chapter!

ChibiNeo24: Most of my old stories are on Hiatus. I'm planning on rewriting them eventually. Osuwari!

Kudos to my beta AkumakoRonso, who totally rocks!

Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts is the dirty little love child of Squarenix and Disney. Do I belong to either corporation? Nope, didn't thing so. So Sit Boy, and enjoy the fruits of my labor!

Recommended music: Strange Names and A Song of Storm And Fire.

Chapter Six: Swords and Wings

* * *

"Are we there yet?" Daisuke whined as he draped himself over the back of Hikaru's chair. They'd been flying between worlds for over a week now, and the teen was bored out of his skull. After sealing Traverse Town, the group had decided to head out. 

"We told you earlier Daisuke-kun, we should reach a world in a little while!" the twins answered in typical unison.

With a sigh, Daisuke flopped down in his chair, eyes closed as he leaned his head back. Over the past week, he'd invented new games to play with Dark, figured out how to banish and summon the Keyblade, and had read every scrap of paper on the ship. 'I wish I'd brought something to do, even if only something to draw!' he bemoaned.

_'What, talking to me isn't good enough for you anymore?' _Dark muttered in annoyance. The spirit was feeling a bit of cabin fever as well.

'It's not that Dark, it's the lack of th-' "Wha!!!" Daisuke yelped as the ship was violently rocked. In the back, Duzell shot up from his meditation, and Gourry was awoken from his nap. Grabbing the armrests, the teen dug his nails into the cloth as he yelled up to the twins. "What's going on?!"

Hikaru struggled to keep the ship straight as Kaoru yelled back. "We're entering the atmosphere!"

Duzell nodded as he strapped himself into his seat. "This happened when we entered Traverse Town as well," he explained as Gourry struggled with his own seat. "It only lasts a moment, then we're on the ground," he said, mostly reassuring himself.

The vampire king was right. Within a few minutes, the shaking and vibrating stopped, and Daisuke sighed in relief as he unbuckled himself from the chair. "I wonder where we are?" he thought out loud.

"Only one way to find out!" Gourry said happily as he pulled the door open.

The place they landed was a pine forest, with nothing but trees all around them. It was twilight, so they couldn't see very far, but Duzell assured them that no one was around. Confidently, Daisuke stepped out of the ship, and on to vaguely familiar ground. It reminded him of the paintings he'd seen of Feudal Japan.

"Come on guys, let's go!" he exclaimed, jogging out into the woods, heading for a thin line of light in the distance. On his shoulder, Wiz purred and chirped happily, glad to be out of the ship.

It was only the work of a few minutes for Daisuke to reach the tree line, his friends a minute behind him. Slowing, Daisuke peaked out around a massive pine tree, only to run right into another boy his age. With yelps, they sprang back from each other, the other boy placing his hand on the hilt of a sword at his hip. "Who are you?" he barked in a demanding voice.

"That's my question!" Daisuke argued as he inspected the boy in the dim light. He had short light brown hair, and expressive hazel-brown eyes. He was wearing what looked to be a brown hakama, and a light green haori.

Narrowing his eyes, the other boy straightened up slowly, letting his hand drop. "…Syaoran," he offered shortly.

Grinning in an attempt to help the teen relax even more, Daisuke held out his hand. "I'm Daisuke!" he said happily. Hesitantly, Syaoran told Daisuke's hand, shaking it.

The peaceful moment was short lived as Duzell and Gourry came crashing through the trees, the blond panting as he leaned against a pine. At once, Syaoran turned to look at them warily, settling back into a defensive stance.

Before anything could happen, a steady tramping from the road drifted to their ears. At once, Syaoran ducked behind a tree, Daisuke and the others following his example. A company of men came down the road, men dressed in the traditional armor of Samurai. Two bay horses were being led in the middle of the troop, each with a single passenger. One was a tall blond man in white and blues, while the second was a teen girl with short red hair. Both were knocked out.

At the sight of the girl, Syaoran's fingers squeezed around the tree trunk, his jaw tight with anger. 'At least they haven't found Kurogane-san and Mokona,' he thought weakly. 'And they most be close if I can understand this Daisuke person,' Once the troop had passed, he let out a strangled, "Hime!" before stalking after them.

"Wah! Syaoran, wait up!" Daisuke called as he followed the teen, Wiz holding on to his shoulder. The teen must have heard him because he slowed down long enough for Daisuke and the others to catch up before picking up speed again. Daisuke jogged level with the taller teen as he asked, "What's going on?"

Syaoran refused to say anything at first. Noting this, Duzell strode up to his right side in order to try and talk. "We are not your enemies Syaoran," he intoned. The boy jerked his head in the vampire's direction, but only for a second. "If you tell us what has happened, then we might be able to help you."

The teen sighed as he slowed down in his pursuit. He'd been thrown off guard by Duzell, because he wasn't able to sense him like he could Daisuke. He shook his head. "It wasn't our fault. The local Daimyo has been having trouble lately, and buildings keep getting destroyed. We were in the wrong place at the wrong time. We came across the things that were attacking another outpost, and managed to drive them off. The Daimyo must have had a messenger posted there though because those Samurai came after us. We were scattered, and now they have Fai-san and Sakura-hime!" He growled in frustration as he stared at the troops ahead of them.

Gourry grinned as he clapped a hand on Syaoran's shoulder, making the boy jump slightly. "Well, don't worry about your friends Syaoran-kun!" he said cheerfully. "We'll help you get them back!"

"Tell me something," Duzell asked as Gourry backed off. "The 'things' that were attacking the outpost, did they have a red symbol on their chests?"

Syaoran looked up in surprise. "They did! How did you know?"

Daisuke went serious as he answered. "They're the ones we're after. They've destroyed our worlds already, and countless others."

A rustling in the tree above them halted the conversation as the four stared up in apprehension. A hunched figure crouched above them, a long sword slung over a broad pair of shoulders. Syaoran relaxed at the sight of the man though. "Kurogane-san!" he called out softly.

The man jumped down with a 'humph,' landing softly next to the teens. "I take it you saw?" he stated, red eyes looking down the road. He was dressed like a traditional ninja, including mostly black attire under his armor.

All business, Syaoran nodded. "Mokona," he called, walking next to the older man. "Do you sense any feathers here?"

To the surprise of Daisuke and the others, a white fluffy creature bounced out of Kurogane's cloak! In Daisuke's mind, Dark warily inspected the creature before hissing, _'Careful, that thing is a magical construct. A rather intricate one, but still magic.'_

Unaware of the warning that passed between the red head, Mokona hummed before shaking its' head. "Mokona's not sure. There may be one, but it's hard to tell," it said in a sad tone.

"Whoa!" Gourry said in surprise. He leaned in closer to the creature, finger extended to poke it. "What is it?" he asked softly.

At once, Daisuke grabbed the warrior's hand, pulling it away from the white creature. Oblivious, the thing grinned as it bounced up. "Mokona is Mokona!" it said with a chirp.

"If the introductions are over, can we think of a plan?" Duzell growled, stalking past the others.

"It's obvious!" Daisuke exclaimed as he released Gourry's wrist. "We're gonna help these guys out!" he declared. Syaoran whispered his name, surprised that the teen was willing to help him after he'd been so rude.

Duzell though, had other ideas. "Daisuke, why should we follow these people?" he asked in a hissing whisper as Gourry introduced himself to Kurogane.

Daisuke waved his worries aside. "I know what I'm doing Duzell, don't worry! I'm a thief, remember?" He waved his hand in the direction that the Samurai had gone. "I'll just sneak in, set them loose, and sneak them out."

Duzell thought for a few seconds, then nodded to the young man. "Alright. I have a feeling you wouldn't listen to me anyway," he muttered.

…………………………

Half an hour later found them outside of a large compound. The main part of the village was fenced off from the forest by a wooden wall. A few samurai were patrolling the outside of the wall, but they couldn't see what was going on inside the village. With a grin, Daisuke grabbed Syaoran by the wrist in order to pull him after him before turning to the others. "Wait for us here, we'll be back soon."

Before they could say anything, Daisuke raced forward, Syaoran barely keeping on his feet as he stumbled after the smaller teen. Crouched low, Daisuke led the teen around the barricade to a lower point. Grinning, he whispered to Wiz, who was perched on his shoulder, and tightened his grip on Syaoran's wrist as the rabbit transformed into his wings. With a small grunt, he jumped into the air, giving his familiar the chance he needed to get them into the air, Syaoran dangling below him. Swiftly, the trio cleared the wall, unnoticed by the guards in the darkness.

The teens landed in an alley right inside the wall, Syaoran rubbing his wrists in pain as Wiz changed back into his rabbit-form. The brown-haired teen was obviously curious about Wiz, but he stayed quiet as he and Daisuke snuck out of the alley into the main street.

They were surrounded by wooden, Japanese buildings, torches in front of the steps lighting the street. Spears and bows leaned against the wall of one house, but no one was in sight. Carefully, the two crept down the dirt path, heading towards a clearing in the middle of the village.

As they came up on a large crowd of men dressed in armor, Daisuke cocked his head to the side in curiously at the sight of the warriors in front of him. They looked like the old depictions of Samurai, and the long man figured that he could use this to his advantage. It was known that demons were common during the time of the time of the Samurai in his world, and he was hoping that it was the same in this one.

Even as the young man was thinking up a plan, a man in the middle of the circle imperiously gestured to some of the men behind him. On his head was a helm with a pair of antlers sticking out of the forehead, and he had a long sword at his hip. "Bring forth the prisoners!" he barked.

Next to the young thief, Syaoran gasped as the girl with emerald eyes and the tall blond were shoved forward, their hands bound behind them. The girl was obviously terrified, and the thin man next to her had a grim set to his face. "Sakura-hime!" Syaoran gasped as he moved to rescue her.

Daisuke placed a hand on the teen's shoulder to stop him. "Wait Syaoran, you won't do any good if you charge in like that!" he muttered. Looking around, he pointed at one of the huts next to them. "Climb, we need a better view than here," he ordered lowly as he started up the side of the structure.

Below them, the Samurai in charge stood over the pair as he started to bark at them. "You both have been charged with the destruction of five outposts, and one supply base over the past moon cycle. We know it was you, we caught you at the south-western post earlier today. Tell us, who sent you?"

Fai, the blond in the white and blue, looked up at the man, a glint in his crystal eyes. "Mokona sent us!" he chirped with a straight face.

Behind him, one of the men bashed his sword into the back of Fai's skull, growling angrily. "There is no Lord with that name! Stop being stupid, and answer Takeda-sama!"

Next to the blond, Sakura gasped as Fai lurched forward, a lump forming on his head. "We're telling you the truth! We didn't destroy your base!" she cried, throwing herself over the blond as best as she could, trying to protect him.

Takeda sneered as he leaned in closer to the girl, grabbing her chin in order to force her to look up at him. "Is that so? Then tell me, who did? Which of the Lords is trying to disable me?" he asked in an evil voice.

Daisuke took this as his cue to step in. He stood on the roof of the hut as Wiz transformed into the wings again. "They did not attack you, Takeda-_sama_," he bellowed, lowering his voice as much as he could, and making the sama into a sneer. Wiz stretched out as he allowed Dark to start and take over, knowing that the spirit would be able to get both prisoners out easier than he could. "I was the one who at_tacked you!" _he yelled, slipping into Dark's voice as he did so. Next to him, Syaoran's eyes went big as the teen morphed into Dark's body, but managed to remain calm, up until the spirit launched himself at the Samurai below, scattering them as he landed next to the two prisoners.

Dark grinned as the warriors scattered around him, baring his teeth at Takeda. _'You were right Daisuke, they are as superstitious as the Samurai of our history!'_ he thought as he picked Sakura up in his arms, Fai draped over a broad shoulder. "_If you wish to see the next sunrise, then leave us be, and stay out of my forest!"_ he growled before launching himself heavily into the air.

_"Syaoran, let's go!" _he called as he soared over the hut, heading for the wall. Nodding, Syaoran raced after the thief, leaping from roof to roof as he followed Dark. With a grunt, he jumped up onto and then over the wall onto the ground, rolling to his feet. Above him, Dark circled as he came in to land, groaning slightly as he landed heavily.

In his arms, Sakura called out to Syaoran happily. "Syaoran-kun!" she chirped as Dark helped her stand up, her arms still behind her back.

Happily, Syaoran hugged the girl tightly, amazed that she wasn't hurt. At the side, Dark smirked as he helped Fai stand up, undoing the knots in the rope with the ease of long practice. _"Aww, young love, ne?" _he asked quietly as he threw the rope to the side.

Fai grinned loopily as he swayed on his feet. The blow to his head had apparently hurt him more than he'd thought. Before he could say anything, Duzell, Gourry, and Kurogane came out of the trees, the vampire having spotted them as they went over the wall again. Seeing the ninja, Fai grinned wider as he draped himself on him, chirping, "Kuro-pyan came to help me!"

The tall ninja was about to push the blond off of him when an arrow zipped past his arm. "Time to move!" he growled as he hefted the tall magician into a better grip. More arrows came down around them, and the others agreed as they retreated into the forest.

……………………..

A little while later found them deep in the forest, surrounded by the sounds of the local wildlife. The troop had stopped for the night, and Kurogane was leaning against a tree, Fai draped across his lap. The blond had lost consciousness during the march into the forest, and was currently sleeping peacefully. Sakura was leaning against Syaoran, who had an arm wrapped around her shoulders. Across from them, Dark was perched on a tree limb, leg swinging lazily above Gourry's head. Duzell was sitting next to the warrior, tired after using his magic to heal part of Fai's concussion. His magic wasn't geared towards healing, so the spell had taken a lot of concentration on his part.

"So," Kurogane started. "What are you?" he growled in Dark's direction. "And I'm talking to both of you other there, you and the pale one. Why can't I sense your energy like I can Gourry's?"

Dark grinned from his perch, gently stroking Wiz in his arms. _"I'm a spirit who lives in Daisuke's blood,"_ he simplified. He nudged Duzell with a foot. _"Tall and colorless here can tell you what he is,"_ he joked. Mentally, Daisuke berated the thief. 'Dark, don't tease them too much, they're our allies, remember?'

Duzell growled, but rolled his eyes as he turned towards the group, Syaoran and Sakura listening intently as well. While he didn't trust Syaoran like Daisuke did, he still trusted the thief's judgement. The boy may not be normal, but he was acting like a normal human. 'Maybe he developed a heart of his own,' he thought before speaking. "I am the Vampire King Duzell," he said in an important voice. At the curious look on Sakura's face, he sighed. "I drink the blood of others in order to survive and to strengthen my magic," he explained. He nodded towards Gourry, who had nodded off. "He's the normal one, outside of being an idiot."

"You're not from this world, are you?" Syaoran asked, a hard glint in his eyes. He had yet to forget about the incident in the Piffle World. Instinctively, Duzell stiffened a little.

Dark smirked as he looked down at the teen. _"I doubt that you're from here either,"_ he retorted. He nodded towards Kurogane and Fai. _"The blond has more magical potential then I do, and __Kuro-pyan__," _he teased, _"may be a swordsman, but he doesn't act like the Samurai here."_ At a curious look from the red-eyed warrior, the spirit shrugged. _"You act like you'd rather attack from the shadows, and you're dressed more practically, like a ninja," _he explained. The thief shifted as he folded his arms over his broad chest. _"But I doubt you're here because your worlds were destroyed like ours were. If that was the case, then you'd know what the Heartless are."_

"You mentioned that before. Just what are those things?" Kurogane barked, a large hand resting on Fai's shoulder. Unknown to the ninja, Fai was smiling lightly as he dozed.

Duzell, Dark, and Daisuke scowled, mentally in Daisuke's case. Being the more knowledgeable of the group, Duzell was the one to answer. "Those creatures you fought are known as the Heartless. They're the remnants of those who have lose their hearts to the darkness." Lifting a hand, the undead whispered something in the tongue of his world. After a minute, a small figure appeared under his hand.

It was an illusion of a Heartless, the ones who were the most common. It's antennae twitched as it shuffled around, startling Syaoran and the others. "These creatures feed on the energy of the heart, of feelings and memories, which is why they commonly appear in more heavily populated areas. If you're not careful, they'll destroy your heart, and a new Heartless appears."

Syaoran and Sakura were mesmerized by Duzell's magic. Because of this, only Kurogane was able to notice the incoming attack. "Look out!" he barked as he rolled away, carrying Fai and Mokona with him. Used to trusting the ninja's judgment, Syaoran did the same, Sakura in his arms. Seeing them, Dark and Duzell followed suit, Dark pulling Gourry out of the way. Seconds later, a troupe of Samurai came bursting through the trees, swords drawn and battle ready.

Dark grinned as he summoned the Keyblade to his hand, Wiz clinging to the back of his neck. _"Finally, some action!" _he crowed, ignoring Daisuke's pleas not to fight. Awake, Gourry shook his head to clear the fog from his mind, drawing his own sword, and Duzell was chanting under his breath, readying his spells. Syaoran and Kurogane were readying their blades as well, Fai and Sakura well out of the way.

With a crash, the two groups came together, Kurogane and Gourry leading the fight. Behind them, Syaoran and Dark were fighting together, protecting each other's back. With a cry, Duzell launched a fireball spell at the Samurai, forcing them to back away.

Dark was only faintly aware of a familiar presence as he danced amongst the warriors, breaking arms, parrying blows, knocking heads together. It wasn't until some of the Samurai screamed that he noticed a third party had joined the fight. The Heartless were attacking the other warriors. The spirit didn't even stop to think as he charged past his human opponents and into the Heartless, slashing them frantically as he worked to get them away from the humans. Seeing him, Duzell and Gourry joined in, the vampire throwing another fireball as the blond started hacking his way towards Dark. After a second, the rest of the fighters joined in.

_"See Takeda-sama," _Dark panted as he was joined by the human leader. _"We weren't the ones, attacking you. THESE are, the true culprits_!" he exclaimed as he sliced off the head of a Heartless. As the numbers trickled off, Dark was able to notice that they'd been led towards a small waterfall. With a sigh, the spirit finished off the last of the Heartless before resting his sword.

He'd relaxed too soon. A low rumbling started up, and the fighters staggered as they worked to stay on their feet. The Samurai were muttering in worry, but Dark and his friends recognized this feeling.

A low whooshing sound came to their ears. It grew louder until the Samurai started to back away, some edging for the trees again. In a burst of flame, a black creature appeared over the trees! It was large and shaped like a bird, but with a long neck and cruel talons. At the sight of it, Takeda called a retreat, and the Samurai raced away, thinking it was a demon. They were close; the bird had the Heartless symbol on it's breast.

At the sight of the creature, Mokona chirped in Kurogane's cloak. "Mokona senses a feather!" it exclaimed to the group, pointing at the large Heartless.

"That thing has a feather?" Syaoran exclaimed as he dodged away from it's talons.

_"Doesn't matter what it is, it's going down!" _Dark called as he charged the bird, Keyblade at the ready. Before he could land a hit, the bird spat a ball of fire at the thief!

Dark yelped as he dodged out of the way, landing on his rear as he twisted. With a roll, he was back on his feet, and yelled as he struck at the Heartless, hitting it in the wing. He was thrown to the side for his efforts, and the spirit groaned as he forced himself up: he'd hit a tree.

Seeing Dark's failed attempt, Syaoran and Kurogane charged the bird on opposite sides, Gourry charging the head. Confused, the Heartless didn't know which target to go after, until Gourry managed to slash it in the neck. Angry, the Heartless readied to spit another fireball at the blond, only to be interrupted by Duzell.

"Alu!" the vampire finished before waving his arm towards the creature. A torrent of water arched towards the bird, hissing as it hit it's sides and head. Angrily, the bird hissed at the vampire, staggering away as Syaoran and Kurogane continued to attack it's sides.

Back on his feet, Dark yelled towards Duzell. "Do that again! Aim for the head!" he advised at he charged again, going in low to attack the neck. Having already started the chant for the water spell again, Duzell quickly threw another wave at the Heartless. Roaring, the bird tried to dodge away, lifting it's head to avoid the spray.

That was a mistake. With a bellow, Dark slashed into the bird's neck, affectively severing most of it's head from the rest of it's body. With a final defiant roar, the Heartless collapsed, it's body dissolving in multiple sparkles of light. In it's place was a small, fiery red stone with a small rune engraved into it, and a small white feather.

Panting, Dark leaned against the Keyblade as he picked up the items. _"What are these?"_ he wondered.

Syaoran was the first to recover as he walked up to the thief. "The feather belongs to Sakura-hime," he intoned. He sounded calm, but his body language was screaming that he was ready to fight if need be.

Dark grinned. _"Who am I then, to refuse to return something that belongs to a lady?"_ he asked as he passed the teen the feather.

"Syaoran-kun!" At the sound of the small voice, everyone turned to see Sakura racing up the clearing, Fai right behind her. Grinning, Dark backed away as Syaoran gave her the feather, which melted into her chest. With a sigh, the girl's eyes rolled up into the back of her head and she fainted, only to be caught by Syaoran's waiting arms.

Turning, Dark marched over to the river, determined to wash his face. The soot from the Heartless's fire attack was starting to itch. Leaning over the water, his eyes suddenly caught sight of a particular shape behind the waterfall. He walked up to get a closer look, and smirked. There was a keyhole shape behind the sheet of water.

This time, the spirit took his time to inspect it, memorizing the feel of the latent magic around it. He nodded after a minute, confident that he'd be able to recognize that magic again later if need be. Raising the Keyblade, he pointed it at the waterfall. At once, light collected at the tip of the strangely-shaped weapon, shooting out to connect with the keyhole. The light increased as it hit, and a soft click could be heard before everything faded again.

Finished, the spirit turned around to address the group, only to practically run into Fai, who was standing right behind him. "That was an interesting type of magic," the blond said quietly.

_"Thanks," _Dark said, equally quiet. Remembering the stone in his hand, he showed it to the mage. _"Do you know what this thing is?" _he asked.

The blond took it with delicate fingers, inspecting it for a moment. "I believe this is a summoning stone," he finally said.

_"Summoning? For what?" _Dark asked, curious. In his mind, Daisuke was equally curious.

Fai shrugged as he gave the stone back to the thief. "I don't know, it's different for every summon. All you need to do though, is concentrate on calling it out, and it should come to help you." he advised.

"Oi! Get over here, we're leaving!" Kurogane barked, gesturing for Fai.

The blond grinned as he ambled over to the others. "Yes yes, Kuro-wuf!" he called. Growling, the ninja made to smack the mage over the head, but Fai just dodged him nimbly.

Syaoran looked over at Dark as Mokona sprouted wings, the alchemy circle forming under their feet. "Daisuke, Dark, I hope we're able to meet again!" he called.

Dark grinned as he nodded. _"You can count on it Syaoran!" _he assured as the group of four were sucked into Mokona's mouth. With a smile, the spirit relaxed his hold on Daisuke's body, allowing the boy to come back into control.

Turning, the three started to head back towards the ship-

-never noticing the small Heartless that jumped in after Mokona.

………………………………

"Well, that was a waste!" barked the skort-wearing man, watching the mirror in disgust. "They didn't lose a person or anything!" he whined, purple eyes glowing angrily.

"Quit your whining Homunculi," the cloaked man snapped, gnarled hand gripping the arm of his seat. "If you do not wish to add to the conversation, then do not open your mouth!"

"Personally, I'm more worried about the summon," spoke the man with the mask. "That was one of our more balanced creatures we've used, it could help them immensely."

The tallest amongst them snorted, pale fingers pushing hair away from his eyes. "If they can figure how to use it," he corrected.

"Either way though, we have what we want," sneered the old man, his long coat brushing against his legs as he turned to look at something behind the man in the traditional hakama and haori.

Said man laughed lowly. "Kukukukuku, yes, at least we have her, the fourth of the girls we need," he agreed, looking at the person behind him. There, sleeping soundly still, was Sakura, unaware of the Hell that awaited her upon awakening.

* * *

Kyaaa!! I'm evil aren't I, leaving poor Sakura in their clutches! (In their clutches! In their clutches!) 

Anyway, review please. The more you do, the sooner I'm update. Wishing luck to all those who have finals!

Later!


	7. Mononoke Tachi Dake

I'm so sorry that it took so long to get this thing out! I was having so much trouble with this one. However, I already have an outline down for the next one, so that should get out sooner than this one.

LoneHowl: (Hugs back)

Akuma Ronso: Well, I guess you can call it materia. And no shrimp al-fredo just yet. Soon though.

Sparky: If you have an idea as to who the other princesses are, tell me. I want to make sure I'm original, and not too obvious, k? And no, the villians won't hurt her, just imprison and mentally torture her.

Disclaimer: I'm neither male, nor old. I therefor, don't own these shows, movies, or characters. Takeda-sama is mine though.

Recommended music: Lust For Blood (Gackt) and The Battle Drums from the Mononoke Hime Soundtrack.

Mononoke-Tachi Dake...

* * *

Slowly, Daisuke groaned as he came to, pressing a hand to his forehead. "What the heck happened?" he groaned, forcing his eyes open. His vision slowly came into focus as he looked around. He was in the middle of a forest again, surrounded by tall, ageless trees that seemed to scrape the sky. The area seemed almost mystic, like he had just walked into a church, or a shrine. Carefully, the teen sat up, and noticed that he was surrounded by multiple pools of clear water, so clean that he could see the bottom as if it was glass. Multiple insects were flitting around, dragonflies, butterflies, and some species that he'd never seen before. 

"Where am I?" he wondered as he rested back on his side. "The last thing I remember, we were on our way back to Traverse Town," he muttered. Images flickered before his minds eye as he tried to remember what had happened. Something about turbulence again, then spinning, then finally, nothing.

_'Daisuke?'_ Dark whispered. The spirit was obviously affected by the obvious magic of the area as well. _'Daisuke, look to the right! Quickly!' _

Hearing the urgency in the spirit's voice, Daisuke turned to look through a gap in the trees. A herd of large deer were passing by, lit by the sun that was setting behind them. Daisuke's eyes went wide as he watched them pass. Having grown up in the city, he'd never seen a deer before. One stopped and looked in his direction before continuing on. For some reason, that one looked strange to the city boy, but he dismissed it as the creature left.

Daisuke smiled as he sat back on his rear, glad that the thief had told him about the deer. A sudden 'Kyuu!' alerted him to a friend. "Wiz!" he called as he stood up, looking for his friend. After a few minutes of looking, he finally found the little spirit floundering in the water. "Wiz, are you ok?" he asked as he fished the rabbit out of the water. Recovering, the rabbit squeaked up at him happily.

A heavy breathing sound behind him alerted Daisuke, who stiffened in fear. Slowly, he turned around. A pair of large amber eyes greeted him, eyes belonging to a large, white wolf!

With a scream, Daisuke jumped away, his training as a thief kicking in. Like a chipmunk, the teen sped away before streaking up into a tree. From the safety of his leafy perch, the boy was able to safely look down at the wolf. It was large, at least as tall as he was, with intelligent amber eyes that laughed up at him.

'Come down from there little squirrel, so that I can bite your head off!' a voice called up in a young male voice.

'Was that the wolf?' Daisuke wondered as he clung to the branch. In his head, Dark nodded emphatically. Eyes wide, Daisuke wrapped his arms around the branch he was on before yelling down at the canine. "No way! I like my life, thank you very much!"

A grin stretched across the wolf's face as it reared up, placing his paws on the tree trunk. 'But you can't stay up there forever. Someone will get to you eventually,' it said with an evil smirk to his voice.

"Yeah! And it won't be you!" Daisuke squeaked.

The wolf seemed to nod. 'You're right, I won't get you,' he said as he backed off. 'I'll just have to get you down another way,' he said before padding off. 'San! Get over here, and flush this squirrel out of here!' he called to someone farther out in the lake area.

'San? Three?' Daisuke wondered, translating the name.

Mentally, Dark shrugged, curious about who this 'San' person could be. _'Whoever it is, you may not wish to be here when it comes after us!'_ Dark insisted.

"Don't need to tell me twice!" Daisuke muttered as he vaulted through the branches, imagining that they were part of another obstacle course of his mother's. Ducking, weaving and flying through the branches, Daisuke was so into his escape that he missed the sight of another human-a human wearing a white fur, crouched next to a patch of blue.

……………………………

"What have you gotten us into this time!?" Duzell hissed angrily.

"It wasn't my fault!" Gourry wailed pathetically. The two of them were tied up and being held at spear point by a group of angry-looking Samurai. Luckily, the only one who stood out was the blond Gourry, as Duzell had shifted into his black-haired form. The vampire was strikingly beautiful in this form, wearing an off-color blue yukata, and because he looked like a woman, was being guarded more heavily than Gourry.

Even as he thought of how strange this logic was-why be more wary of a woman than an obvious foreigner?- a tall man in red armor strutted up to them. He was very ordinary looking, if not for the distinctive helmet he had under his arm, a helmet with a familiar pair of antlers jutting from the forehead. Gaping, Duzell stared up at the familiar man. "Takeda-san?" he muttered lowly.

It _was _the man from the previous world! A little scruffier and thinner, but undeniably him. Glaring, he spat to the side as he barked at them. "What is a woman from Tataraba and a foreigner doing outside of your fortress?"

Gourry tilted his head. "Tataraba? What's that?" he asked.

Duzell sighed in relief at this. The blond obviously didn't recognize the Samurai. The only reason he knew was the fact that he saw Dark talking to him during the fight with the Heartless. Pitching his voice a little higher, Duzell bashed Gourry in the side with a tied arm. "Gourryu-san! Please be quiet!" he simpered, adopting the accent the other Samurai were using. Taken off guard, Gourry stared at Duzell as the vampire bowed awkwardly to Takeda. "Forgive us good Samurai, but we are only simple travelers passing through the country," he explained, trying to reassure the man. "Please tell us, why have you captured us?" he asked, dark eyes wide and doe-like for the innocent affect. Mentally, Duzell gagged violently. _'There's no way he's going to fall for this,' _he thought.

"Hmpth," Takeda snorted as he placed he hand on his sword. "Release them, they are not from Tataraba," he ordered. Eyes wide, Duzell and Gourry stood as the Samurai cut them free. "The women of Tataraba are too proud to act like simple country women. They would rail and rave against us if we had captured one of them," Takeda muttered. Sighing slightly, his stance relaxed as he looked at the two. "So tell me, what are you both doing here? It is a long way from any of the cities," he asked in a kinder tone of voice.

Demurely, Duzell held his hands behind his back, trying to act as simple and feminine as possible. Mentally, he was gagging his immortal head off. "Gourryu-sama is escorting me to another village. My husband-to-be is waiting for me there," he answered. 'Gourry, PLEASE don't screw this up!' he thought furiously. Luckily for him, the blond seemed to have gotten the idea, and was standing up straight, hand resting on his belt as he thrust out his chest importantly.

Nodding, Takeda shifted his stance as he looked away for someone. "If you do not mind then, I will send a Samurai with you as an escort through the forest." His gaze wandered to the tree line on the other side of the lake. He shuddered slightly. "The Gods in there are jealous of their homes. They will not hesitate to kill you," he told them.

Duzell looked up at him. "I'm grateful that you wish to help us, but do not waste your men on us, please," he pleaded, trying to get out of the proposition of a guard. If one was sent with them, then he would only get in their way.

Takeda waved his hand. "Nonsense, I insist! Besides, my motives are not wholly innocent. A Samurai could help us find another way to surround Tataraba." He turned to look at one of his attendants behind him. "Send for Watanuki-taicho," he ordered. Bowing, the two men jogged off, armor clanging noisily as they ran.

………………………………...

A few minutes later, the resigned Duzell and perpetually confused Gourry were on the road again, having been joined by the Lieutenant Watanuki. The young man was all leg and arm, tall and gangely, but with an air of confidence about him that was only acquired through years of fighting. Soft brown eyes were hard as they scanned the path before them, searching for anything that may come after them. Unlike most of the other Samurai, he had cut his hair short so that it was above his ears. Looking back at the two, he called to them. "Hurry up, we don't know what's in this forest."

Stifling a sigh, Duzell loped after the young warrior, Gourry right behind him. Carefully, Gourry leaned over to whisper to the vampire. "Why are we following him? Can't we go by ourselves?" he asked.

Duzell shook his head. "Takeda had a point when he said that something lives in here. I can sense it, old magic, it fills this forest. Plus, we still need to find Daisuke and the twins before we can get off of this world." His eyes flickered back to Watanuki, who was peeking around a corner. "This man may be of some help if we are to get to the other side of the forest," he finished.

Gourry sighed. "All right, all right, you have a point," he conceded. "But, do we have to ju-"

The blond was cut off by a pair of howls. Watanuki flinched as a pair of bodies flung themselves out of the trees, pouncing on the Samurai. A second later, the young man was unconscious, and the twins straightening up in triumph as they sauntered over to the pair before them. "It's about time we found you!" Kaoru exclaimed.

Hikaru nodded. "We've been looking for you since the crash," he explained. "The ship is only a little ways into the forest." He jerked his thumb behind him, pointing into the trees.

"Have you guys seen Daisuke?" Gourry asked as the group of four started for the trees.

"Nope, not yet," the twins chorused. "But we know he's got to be close," Kaoru finished as they pushed a branch out of the way, revealing the ship.

They weren't alone with the relic though. Something was sniffing at the metal, something large and white. Hand on his sword, Gourry stared at the wolf, Duzell mentally preparing a spell. Hearing them, the wolf snarled as it twirled around, fur bristling around the scruff of its neck as it prepared to attack them. It was stopped by an echoing howl that drifted through the trees. The wolf howled back, then reluctantly, turned and padded back into the trees.

"Well, that was strange," Gourry said after a minute, standing back up straight.

The twins shook their heads as they opened the ship's hatch, Hikaru ducking in to grab the tool box. "They've been sniffing around for a while now," Kaoru said as his brother passed him a wrench. He sighed as he looked at the damage to the ship, tapping the wrench against his thigh. "We've retrieved most of the parts we lost, and we have spares for the ones we missed," he told them as he started to work on a loose panel.

"Repairs shouldn't take more than a few days, as long as Kaoru doesn't botch up his work," Hikaru said jokingly.

"Hikaru!" Kaoru exclaimed. Knowing where the twins were about to go, Duzell turned away in annoyance, flipping his still-black hair over his shoulder. "Why must you be so mean to me brother, when you know that I always try my best!" he asked sadly, hunching up his shoulders, the wrench held to his chin like a demented teddy bear.

"Why do you do that?" Gourry asked as the twins came together in a passionate embrace.

Both redheads grinned evilly as they looked at the blond. "We need to stay in practice for when we get back to our world!" they chirped.

Shaking his head, not getting the idea as to WHY they needed to do that in their own world, Gourry padded off, following Duzell into the trees.

The kyuketsuki, or vampire, was leaning against a tree, hands resting on the bark near his face. His eyes were closed, and a light halo of magic was flowing around him, playing with his long hair. "This forest is very old," the man muttered as Gourry came up to him. The blond didn't touch him though-he'd learned _that_ lesson a long time ago. "Full of magic, memories, and pain," he whispered, green eyes slowly opening.

"How can a tree have memories?" Gourry asked, seeing the vampire open his eyes. That was normally the sign that the man was starting to release his spell.

Duzell ignored Gourry as the forest whispered to him in voices that seemed to flow on the wind like falling leaves. They spoke of pain, of people cutting down the trees, of children dying as their mother trees were being destroyed, of sharp hooves tearing into their roots, of a family of protectors gravitating around a pool…

…of a strange child in white fur chasing a human from the direction of the springs.

Snapping back into awareness, Duzell looked into the trees, magic forming at his fingertips as he snapped at the blond behind him. "Something's coming," he barked, raising his hands, blue flames dancing around them.

Taking the hint, Gourry unsheathed his sword, facing the same direction as the vampire. "How far away?" he asked, settling into a ready stance.

Closing his eyes again, Duzell listened to the whispers on the wind. Seconds later, those stunning emerald eyes snapped open, and he twirled around to his left. "There!" he barked, releasing the magic at his fingertips. Blue fire streaked through the trees, seeking their target.

With a yelp, a familiar red-head burst out of the foliage. The flames missed him, but hit the figure that appeared after him.

The white-and-blue-clad figure yelped like a wolf at the flames hit its cape, forming a thick layer of ice. Abandoning its chase, it swatted at the ice, trying to shake it loose, only to yip in fear as it continued to spread up towards the rest of the fur. Scared now, the creature quickly shed the cape, forced to throw away the red and yellow mask as well, as it was connected to the fur. Its face uncovered, the creature snarled at the trio as it raised it's dagger.

Gourry was the first one to react. "You're a girl?!" he exclaimed. Duzell and the newly-recovered Daisuke gave him an exasperated look, but were unable to do anything else. Just as those words popped out of Gourry's mouth, the girl lunged at the blond with a growl, aiming for his ribs.

An idiot he may be, but Gourry was no slouch when it came to swordplay. That dumb-struck look still on his, face he disarmed the teen with a few simple moves, then held her off the ground by the back of her shirt and dress. "Now now, that's not the way for a young lady to act," he told her gently, sounding like an uncle scolding his niece.

The girl ignored him, and swung a fist at him, snarling and spitting furiously as she tried to get free. It was like trying to hold a fully grown wolf in place.

Duzell frowned at the youngster. "Do you _want_ us to kill you? Because you're lucky my magic didn't do just that!" he exclaimed to the wolf-girl.

Sneering, the girl turned to look at the mage/vampire. "I'm not afraid to die, _human_," she spat. "I'd do anything to get you filthy creatures out of my forest!"

The others were surprised that the girl could talk, but Duzell and Daisuke recovered quickly from their surprise. "Why were you chasing me? I was leaving anyway!" Daisuke exclaimed, standing next to Duzell. On his shoulder, Wiz growled lightly at the girl.

The wolf-girl snarled as she flailed in Gourry's grasp again, twisting and bending in ways that were starting to stretch her clothes. She stopped after a moment, and glared balefully at the boy. "You were in my home, it was my right to do so!" she barked. She twisted again, violently throwing her weight into the movement. With a rip, her shirt suddenly tore, leaving Gourry with a handful of white scraps, and her feet on the ground! With a roar, she launched herself at the boy, teeth bared and fingers curled into claws.

Yelping, Daisuke rolled away, the Keyblade coming to his side instinctively. The girl managed to catch her nails in his side, ripping part of his vest. The red stone from the previous world rolled out of a destroyed pocket, and Daisuke snatched it up as he rolled past. Mentally, Dark yelled at the boy, _'Try to use it!'_

'How?!' Daisuke wailed back, blocking another attack. Even as he mentally asked, he started concentrating on the stone, focusing his strength and will on it. Without his consent, his mouth opened, and he yelled as he pumped the stone into the air. "Come to my aid, Fawkes!!"

With a trill of heart-filling song, the stone glowed red, signaling the arrival of the creature. It was a red bird that had flames trailing from its wings, a phoenix! The trio looked at it in awe as it harried the girl away, beating at her with its beautiful wings. Snarling, the wolf-girl finally retreated, racing back into the forest. Howling echoed through the trees a few minutes later, to be answered by three other wolf voices.

Calmly, the bird landed on the ground, hopping a little closer to Daisuke. Regally, it bowed its head, before looking at Daisuke's side. Alerted to the damage now, Daisuke finally registered the pain in his side. The girl had managed to land a good blow, and blood was oozing from the slashes. Burbling, the phoenix rested its head on Daisuke's side, blinking rapidly. Silvery tears trickled down, splashing onto the wounds.

Looking over Daisuke's shoulder, Duzell took a sharp breath as he recognized what the bird was doing. "I know this creature from my own world. It's said that the tears of a phoenix can heal any wound," he said in awe of the creature.

It was true. As the bird finished, Daisuke rubbed his side, and flakes of dried blood gently fell to the ground. Grinning, the boy patted the bird gently, scratching the feathers at its crest. "Thank you," he chirped. With a final whistle, Fawkes dissipated in a flurry of red sparks, rejoining with the summon stone.

"Well, now what?" Gourry asked.

It was a valid question as the trio drifted back towards the ship. "Well, I don't sense any Heartless here," Daisuke contemplated.

_'There may be no Heartless, but there is plenty of magic here,' _Dark muttered. The magic that permeated the very air was making the spirit simultaneously antsy and relaxed.

"I think it would be best if we left as soon as the ship is repaired," Duzell suggested. Liking this idea, Daisuke nodded. A few seconds later, Gourry shrugged, not caring enough either way.

………………………………...

Days passed in relative peace. Gourry helped Daisuke train with the Keyblade more, Duzell spent much of his time perched in a tree, listening to the forest, and the twins work hard on finding and repairing the rest of the ancient ship. Seeing how useful the summon was, Daisuke rigged a key chain for it using spare wire. The red stone now hung from the handle of the Keyblade, tightly wrapped in the silver wire.

The entire time though, Dark remained restless within Daisuke's mind. Like Duzell, the spirit had a connection to the magic of the forest, just not as intimate as the vampire's was. He sensed that something was coming. He just couldn't say what it was.

It was on the third day that the spirit had finally had enough.

_'Daisuke, if you don't let me take over _now_, I'll make sure that we never fly again!'_ he threatened.

The red-head snorted as he played with Wiz, playfully wrestling with the little rabbit. 'Like that's a big threat, Dark,' he dismissed.

The dark spirit growled. _'I'm serious here Daisuke! I need to get out!' _he insisted.

Daisuke sighed as he sat up, Wiz rolling over again to beg for a belly rub. 'Why? What are you planning to do?' he asked.

_'Something's going on in that forest. Wouldn't you rather learn about it yourself instead of having it land on us?' _

'…I'll admit, I've been wanting to go and see that pool we woke up by again,' the younger male admitted, giving in to the thief. Shaking his head, knowing that he was probably making a big mistake, the teen stood up, walking out of the ship, Wiz jumping up on his shoulder.

Seeing Duzell in the tree again, the youngster grinned and waved at the vampire, who was resting comfortably in his own form. "I'll see you in a little while Duzell," he called as he walked by.

"Wait, where are you going?" the vampire called, leaning down to look at the boy a bit more comfortably. All around the vampire were the little tree sprites that seemed to find him very interesting.

"Just for a walk. I'll be back later tonight, I promise," he said. The vampire frowned, not sure if he should let the boy go, but he figured that he could take care of himself. After all, he had the Keyblade with him, and no way off the planet. Negligently, he waved at the teen, who grinned as he raced into the forest.

Out of sight from the camp, the teen allowed Dark to take over, his body melting into the taller, thinner version of the thief. Laughing, the man jumped into the trees and out of the canopy, Wiz transforming into the wings as he headed up.

Immediately, he could see the reason he'd been so antsy. Not too far from the ship, smoke was rising from the hills. Dark's nose wrinkled, and he covered it with a sleeve as he flew closer. Luckily for Wiz, he didn't have a nose in this form.

'What is that stink Dark?' Daisuke asked.

Dark growled as he drew closer. _"It's the smell of burning animal flesh, hair, and bone,"_ he muttered, knowing the teen would hear him. With a lean to the side, he started to glide in closer.

'Wait, Dark, what are you doing?' Daisuke asked.

_"Don't you want to know what happened?" _Dark asked, soaring just above the trees, heading towards the open field. Grumbling, Daisuke nodded, in a metaphysical sense, of course.

Suddenly, a yelling voice reached Dark's ears, and he barrel-rolled to the side in time for an arrow to streak by. Looking down, he saw a young man riding an elk of all things, yards ahead of a pack of Samurai on horseback. It was the Samurai that were shooting at the thief. Growling, Dark angled towards the young man, trying to get out of range.

_"Leave me alone!!" _he bellowed, Wiz flapping hard to stay in the air.

It didn't work. He could hear the Samurai yelling, calling him a demon, and he barely managed to dodge in time to miss another arrow. The teen in front of him wasn't so lucky. The arrow managed to hit the hindquarters of the elk, and the poor animal hit the ground hard, whimpering in pain.

'Dark, help him!' Daisuke urged.

_"Don't need to tell me twice!" _the spirit retorted, landing in front of the young warrior, summoning the Keyblade to his hand. Behind him, he could hear the teen gasp at his appearance, but he didn't have time to reassure the boy as the first Samurai came up on them. With a roar, Dark knocked the man from the saddle, smacking him over the head with the Keyblade. Luckily for the warrior, he didn't kill him.

Behind him, the young man roared for the Samurai to leave him be. When the warriors didn't listen, he loosed an arrow, hitting one of the men in the neck. Dark was surprised to see the man's head pop off at impact! Outnumbered now, the final man turned his horse and galloped away.

Taking a breath, Dark banished the Keyblade before turning to the teen behind him. Nervously, the blue-clad warrior backed away from him, holding his bow ready to fire. "Who are you?" he asked.

Dark smiled winningly at the young man, holding his hands out. _"Me? I'm out of here!"_ he answered, jumping into the air before the younger man could fire. In the air again, he grinned before turning towards the burning field again, all humor gone from his face.

It was only the work of a few minutes to reach the fields. The sight that greeted them was very sobering. Carcasses of over-sized boars were lying everywhere, burning, smoldering, and some missing their skin. Quietly, the thief padded towards an outcropping of rock, looking for the reason for such destruction.

He found it. Bodies of men were lying on the ground, covered by straw mats. Quietly, Daisuke whispered to his taller counterpart. 'Dark, let me take over, I'm less conspicuous,' he requested. With a nod, the thief relaxed, letting the teen take over again, Wiz transforming back into his normal self. Sadly, the teen walked into the rocky depression, placing his hand on the shoulder of a man who was sitting in the corner, obviously traumatized.

A sudden crunching of gravel alerted him to the presence of a new person. Looking up, Daisuke was surprised to see the same young man he and Dark had helped to rescue. He gave him a sad look as he moved away from the villager. "It looks to me that they've gone through Hell and back," he murmured, approaching the teen.

Before the young warrior could say anything, another man came over the hill, growling that he would kill them if they were Samurai. As soon as he saw the young warrior though, his face broke out in a grin. "Ashitaka-san, you're alive!" he exclaimed.

The now-named Ashitaka nodded as the villager came down towards him. "It looks like you men have had a worse time then I did!" he said, obviously glad to see the man.

The man nodded as over villager men joined him. "We've been burying our friends all day," he said sadly.

"Where's Eboshi-sama?" Ashitaka asked. "I've an important message for her."

Before the man could say anything, a new man dressed like a monk came over the hill. "Who are you two? You are not welcome here!" he barked.

Daisuke raised his hands in surrender. "I was only here to try an help," he said pathetically. Mentally, Dark gave the boy a nod of approval. He'd been teaching the boy how to use the cute and pathetic look to his advantage.

"And I've a message from Tataraba for Eboshi-sama," Ashitaka announced. "Asano and his men have attacked the town, as she needs to return to help!"

At the news, the village men erupted in a flurry of yelling and arguing, trying to get the monks to call Eboshi back. The first man started shaking when Ashitaka asked about the wolf-girl.

"She was there," he said in a tiny voice. "She was there, I was in the front lines, I saw everything!"

"Do you know what happened to her?" Daisuke asked, curious as to what had happened to the feral child.

"I, I'm not sure, everything starting happening so fast!" he whimpered, starting to cry into his arms. The older villager explained that the monk named Jigo had placed them in the front to lure the boars in, but had failed to mention the bombs under their feet, or the grenades they were going to throw down over their heads.

Ashitaka and Daisuke were silent for a moment, contemplating the physical and mental damage something like that could cause to a person. After a second, Ashitaka looked up, and started for a pile of carcasses. Curious, Daisuke followed, and was surprised to see one of the wolves, pinned under a boar carcass!

At once, he joined Ashitaka in trying to get the heavy body off the wolf, Ashitaka saying that the wolf would help him find Eboshi. When a monk started firing darts at the pair, they lost their concentration, and started to collapse under the weight of the heavy creature.

Daisuke panicked. Trapped under the heavy body, he wasn't able to move, and was so scared that he couldn't concentrate enough to call on Dark, or even understand the spirit, who was trying to calm the boy.

After was seemed to be forever, Daisuke felt the pressure ease off, and he pushed with all of his might, desperately wanting to get out. As soon as he was clear, he jumped away from the pile of dead boars, breathing heavily. _'Daisuke, are you ok?' _Dark asked frantically.

Calmer now, the teen nodded. 'Yeah, yeah, I'm alright,' he answered. Looking at Ashitaka, he saw that the young warrior was getting ready to leave. "Wait!" he called, jogging towards the boy. When the other fighter looked up at him, he looked him straight in the eye. "I want to come with you," he declared.

Ashitaka grinned wryly. "I'm sorry, but I doubt you can keep up," he answered. "I'm headed for the pool of the Shikakami, and I need to get there now."

"You mean the spring out in the middle of the forest?" Daisuke asked. When Ashitaka nodded, the young thief gave him a confident look. "I promise that I can keep up."

With a sigh, Ashitaka nodded. "Alright, but if you fall behind, then I'm not waiting for you," he warned.

Daisuke smiled, using the same smile that Dark had given him. Ashitaka did a double take at the familiar look. "I'll meet you there!" he declared before racing off into the forest, Ashitaka and the wolf right behind him. With a grin, Daisuke patted Wiz, signaling him to transform. With a flurry of feathers, the teen launched into the air, heading for the pool.

It took the work of many minutes, and it was near twilight by the time he found the pool. He flew down through the opening in the canopy, and landed on the shore near a large, unmoving object, Wiz immediately transforming and ducking into his shirt. He was surprised; it was a giant white wolf with two tails!

A second later, Ashitaka came panting up, looking at the teen with wary eyes. "What are you?" he asked.

Daisuke grinned. "I'm a friend. Isn't that all that matters?" he asked.

Ashitaka finally nodded. Noticing the wolf, he gasped. "Moro, what happened to you?!" he asked. Getting no answer, he turned to the forest. "San! Can you hear me? It's me, Ashitaka!" he bellowed. Faintly, Daisuke could hear a strange roar. "San!!"

There was silence, then a returning cry. "…ashitaka!!"

A second later, that strange roar sounded again, and Daisuke gasped as a large boar covered in blood-red tentacles appeared out of the trees. "What is that?!" he asked, eyes wide.

_'Besides a bad porno vid come to life, you mean?' _Dark joked, just as freaked out as Daisuke.

"Okotto, turned into a demon," Ashitaka answered faintly. He looked back at the teen, holding up his hand to show purple and red markings. "Don't let him touch you, or you'll be cursed," he warned.

There was a rustling sound, then strange boar-like creatures showed up, surrounding the boys. One raised up, and a man's voice growled at them, a bamboo tube coming out of one of the empty eyes. "Leave, boys," it ordered.

Smartly, Ashitaka looked at them. "Fight me, and the Shikakami will never come," he threatened before walking forward. Standing in front of the demonic boar, he spread his arms, blocking the way to the pool. "Okotto-sama! Calm your fury!" Behind him, Daisuke was barely able to see the fact that Ashitaka was trembling just slightly from fear. "Oh mighty Okotto, let me have the girl, I beg it of you!" he asked. "San! Are you there! It's Ashitaka!"

Daisuke was the first to see the leg kicking amongst the tentacles, but Ashitaka saw it a second later as Okotto screamed at him. "San!" Ashitaka yelled, jumping towards the demon, pushing the men out of the way.

"Kill him! He'll ruin everything!" someone yelled. Hearing this, Daisuke quickly summoned the Keyblade and started knocking heads, revealing monks and hunters underneath the boar skins. With a squeak, Wiz clung to the inside of Daisuke's shirt. Grabbing the Keyblade by the chain that was with it from the start, Daisuke twirled the blade, spinning it as hard as he could. The windmill slammed into heads and stomachs, knocking men out. From the corner of his eye, Daisuke suddenly noticed the two smaller wolves had joined the fight. Carefully, the boy edged his way towards the pool, wanting to get the water to his back for safety, and was splashed when Ashitaka was flung into the water.

"Ashitaka!" Daisuke yelped, but was distracted when the larger wolf opened it's eyes. In a distinctively feminine voice, she muttered, 'And here I was, saving the last of my strength to bite off that damn woman's head. But, I must save my daughter.'

Seconds later, after a series of blasts from grenades, the other two wolves joined their mother as Okotto approached the pool. Levering herself up, the larger wolf cautioned them. 'Don't touch him, or his curse will be upon you too.'

Angrily, the boar marched up to her, red ooze dripping from his wounds and mouth. She seemed to grin when the boar roared at her. 'You can't even speak anymore, can you?' She stood there steady, as if daring the boar to attack her, and when Okotto rammed her, she snarled, 'Give me back my daughter, demon!'

She bit down into the tentacles, ignoring them as they wrapped around her muzzle. Suddenly, Okotto froze, blind eyes staring out across the pool. Curious, Daisuke turned, as froze himself at the sight before him.

A large red deer with branch-like antlers and a human-esque face was approaching them, walking over the water. Ashitaka suddenly burst out of the water, gasping for air, but he stared in awe as well, whispering, "The Shikakami!"

A loud bang. A shot of iron drove straight through the neck of the poor creature. Ashitaka and Daisuke gasped as the god began to sink, losing his ability to stay above the water. Mentally, Dark reassured the boy. _'He's a god, it'll take more than that to kill him off.' _

True to his word, the Shikakami seemed to smile as he regained his footing, trotting to the shore. Mesmerized, Daisuke could only watch, the Keyblade down at his side.

Okotto had backed away from the god, the red tentacles dissolving into a gray ooze. Unnoticed by the teen, Moro had retrieved San, and Ashitaka took her from the wolf. Wrapping her in his arms, he dived into the pool again.

Gently, the Shikakami smiled at Okotto, before stretching out his neck, and kissing him on the tip of his snout. Okotto wavered, cataractic eyes pinned on the god, before they finally closed, and his body fell to the side, finally at peace. To Daisuke's surprise, Moro bowed her head before falling over in death as well.

"I don't get it Dark. Why'd he take both of their lives?" Daisuke whispered.

_'The wolf, Moro, was suffering, that god just ended her pain,' _Dark answered, equally stunned.

Turning from the bodies, the Shikakami looked up through the hole in the canopy. Curious, Daisuke looked up as well. The stars had been out for a while now. Slowly, the creature's neck began to stretch, becoming inky dark, with sparks of light dancing through him. They looked like the light of hundreds of the tree sprites dancing through him. He stretched, higher and closer to the sky. Daisuke would have watched the entire time, but his attention was pulled away by a splash. Ashitaka and San had resurfaced. Turning to look at the shore, the teen yelped, "No, Stop!" before throwing his sword. It thunked solidly into the wooden stock of a woman's rifle!

Daisuke was astonished to see the woman, dressed for hunting. With a smirk, she ignored the teens and took aim at the spirit again. Gracefully, the god turned around, staring at the woman. Plants started to grow out of her rifle. With a scream of furious annoyance, she forced the rifle to shoot, jamming the flint into the weapon.

The boom came at the same time as a hole formed in the spirit's neck. With a sick wet pop, the head of the poor beast sprang up into the air. Down in the water, San screamed in anguish at the sight of the creature dying.

Daisuke suddenly winced as something shot through his senses. He shuddered, wrapping his arms around his shoulders, as he stared at the remains of the Shikakami. The deer god seemed to be bubbling, like it was trying to explode.

_'Daisuke, get us out of here, now!' _Dark urged. Shaking his head, the teen urged Wiz to transform, only for the spirit to scream, _'GET IN THE AIR!! _NOW_!!!'_

Seconds later, Daisuke hovered over the glade, watching in horror as the remains of the Shikakami exploded outwards, killing everything it touched. Trees withered, the tree sprites falling like autumn leaves. The globs reformed slowly, forming a vaguely humanoid form, one without a head.

Something white caught his eye. Moro's head, which had been coated with the goo of the Shikakami, was wriggling through the destruction, to leap and snap at the woman. With a cry, the huntress leaned back into the arms of a man, holding the bleeding stump of her right arm.

Daisuke flinched as he looked away, focusing on the newly-formed death god. As he focused, his eyes adjusting to the dark, he was surprised to see a familiar symbol on it's chest. "Dark, that thing's a Heartless!" he exclaimed.

_'That's what we were sensing,' _Dark muttered. _'This world was innocent until the death of that creature. That Heartless is the first one in this world,' _he figured.

"Well, how do we kill it? We can't touch it without getting killed ourselves," Daisuke asked, looking at the bodies of the monks and hunters that had been touched by the ooze.

_'It looks like it's searching for something.'_

"It's head maybe?"

_'If we return it, the thing might stabilize and give us a chance,' _Dark reasoned.

Daisuke grinned as he looked towards the lake. "And judging by where the ooze is going, I have an idea where the head is," he muttered before soaring away, heading for Tataraba.

………………………………...

Back at camp, Duzell suddenly shuddered as he felt the forest die. Around him, the tree sprites clicked worriedly, unable to comprehend what was happening around them. Closing his eyes, he dived back into his magic, reconnecting to the forest.

Immediately, he began to get a clear mental image of what was happening. He saw a pair of teens, one of them the wolf-girl, as they rode through the forest, on the back of the two white wolves. He saw a dark headless creature with the Heartless symbol on it's chest. He saw a quartet of men running through the trees, carrying a metal box between them-

-He saw Daisuke flying towards the town, the Heartless right under him.

Red eyes snapping open, Duzell jumped down from the tree and smacked the dozing Gourry, awakening him. "Get up, we need to go," he snapped, stalking towards the road.

Groggily, the warrior followed the irate vampire. "Wha happened?" he asked thickly, yawning.

Duzell growled as he started jogging towards the lake. "Daisuke happened, that's what!" he snapped.

"But he can take care of himself, he has the Keyblade."

"But the Pharaoh told us to watch him, and we can't do that if he gets himself killed!" Duzell growled. "Now get moving, we need to reach the fort before the Heartless does."

………………………..

Daisuke yawned slightly as he soared over the banks of the lake, watching for the men with the head to arrive. He'd been in the air for the past three hours, and knew that the men should be close by now, judging by how close the Heartless was.

Suddenly, his sleepy mind had a flash of insight. 'Dark, those people in Tataraba don't know about the ooze. They're sitting ducks in there!' he thought furiously before angling towards the tall wooden walls.

_'Daisuke, what are you doing?' _Dark asked.

'What else can I do? I'm gonna warn them!' the boy answered.

In the fortress, the women looked up as a winged figure appeared over the water. Toki stared in awe as the teen swooped up over the wall, only to carefully perch on a spike near her. Reddish-colored eyes pierced the night as he asked, "Who's in charge here?"

Toki stepped forward, stepping over her husband and one of the leper women. "I am. What do you want?" she barked.

The teen grinned as he tilted his head to the side. "I'm just here to warn you that you need to get everyone out of here. The Shikakami has had it's head cut off, and now it's remains are out to kill everything they touch," he chirped. "I can sense him, he's about to come over the hill," he said, waving at the high rise behind him. "If that ooze touches you, then you're dead." He looked back, and noticing a pair of white streaks, he stood as he finished. "Water slows it down, so get to the lake." With a salute, he tumbled back, falling through the air.

Twirling around, he glided closer to the white apparitions, and was happy to see Ashitaka and the wolf-girl riding them. For some reason, Ashitaka was missing his shirt, revealing the red and purple scar-like markings that were wrapped around his torso. Even as he flapped closer, the girl pointed up the hill, yelling that she had spotted them. Looking, Dark mentally cursed. They were covered in mud, like they'd rolled through a ditch.

_'That must be how they got away from us,' _Dark growled.

'Well, they won't get away this time,' Daisuke chirped as he summoned the Keyblade. "I'll slow them down!" he called as he soared ahead, rising higher in order to pick up speed.

Right as they were about to confront the quartet, Dark mentally poked his host. Daisuke flinched. It always felt weird when Dark did that. _'Daisuke, let me take over, I'm scarier looking,'_ the spirit asked.

Nodding, Daisuke quickly let the spirit take control. At once, the thief grinned as he dive-bombed the men, Keyblade in front, and eyes glowing. With screams, the men ducked for cover, dropping the box. Dark laughed at the revelation that Jigo screamed like a little girl. Daisuke giggled. 'That was fun, do it again!' he chirped.

Dark smiled before looking towards the high rise. _"Ok, but we only have a little more time before the Heartless gets here,"_ he warned before diving at a monk. Seeing him, the man raised a dagger, only for Dark to coolly pluck it out of his hand. He landed a few feet away from the men, calmly tossing the dagger in the air. _"My my, what are you thinking, playing with something so dangerous,"_ he asked, throwing the weapon away. It soared for a few meters before getting lost on the hillside.

The spirit shuddered minutely as the Heartless came over the rise, entering the valley. _'Ok, time to get serious here,' _he thought as he leveled the Keyblade at Jigo's scruffy throat._"I suggest you open the box, Jigo,"_ he said, looking the man straight in the eye. Behind the man, Dark could see San and Ashitaka approaching.

Even with the Keyblade at his throat, Jigo chuckle, albeit nervously. "What, now? When we've only a little more to wait for sunrise? Look!" he waved at the Heartless spirit, which was working it's way through the valley. Smoke was rising from Tataraba, which was thankfully already evacuated. "He's a brainless, life-sucking, swollen god of death! But at sunrise, he'll vanish! Like a bad dream!"

Dark shook his head with a smirk. _"That's where you're wrong, Jigo. What you see is not the Shikakami, but a creature that will enjoy nothing more than destroying all of us. The only way to kill it safely is if we give it back it's head, now," _he ordered.

Jigo's face twisted into a cool, calculating look. "Look, help me, and I'll give you anything you want. The reward for this thing will make us rich beyond our wildest dreams!" he offered.

Dark pursed his lips, pretending to think about it. Seeing Ashitaka and San in position, he told the monk, _"How about…. No," _before slamming the Keyblade into his skull, knocking him out. _"Get the head!" _he yelled as he waded into the ranks of the other three hunters, taking them out with quick blows to the heads and stomachs.

Seeing the opportunity, the pair raced up to the abandoned box, pulling it away from the fight. Carefully, Ashitaka undid the latches that held the thing closed, and pulled away the bar. Finished, Dark jogged over to the pair. By now, the Heartless was closing in on them, coming up onto the bank. Carefully, the teens pulled away the lid, revealing the head, which was swimming in a pool of green-tinted slime. Together, San and Ashitaka lifted the head, the slime dripping down their arms, leaving growing patches of curse scars on their skin.

"Shikakami!" Ashitaka bellowed, ignoring the marks growing on his face, "we give you back your head! Take it, and be at peace!!"

The creature slowed, as if understanding them. Dark backed away nervously as it seemed to lean over them. _"Well, yeah, that seemed to have caught his attention," _he muttered before launching himself into the air. The last thing he saw before the pair were engulfed by the creature, was Ashitaka wrapping his arm around San.

At once, the Heartless solidified, darkening as it stood up. On the ground, San and Ashitaka were out cold, but luckily still there. Daisuke and Dark breathed sighs of relief; the Heartless didn't take their hearts. At once, they were on alert though, as the Heartless swiped at them with clawed hands. It was shaped like a humanoid again, with devil horns and claws on it's hands and feet. The eyes glowed evilly as it targeted the flier, and Dark levered the Keyblade in a defensive position as it started to attack.

"NAUR!" A large fireball streaked towards the Heartless, slamming into it's chest.

Dark grinned. _"I know that spell," _he muttered before looking down in the direction the fireball had come from. Sure enough, there they were, Duzell preparing another spell and Gourry hacking at the Heartless' knees. As if sensing his eyes on him, Duzell looked up at the spirit with a pissed look. His eyes were literally telling him that there would be Hell to pay later.

'We're dead later, aren't we?' Daisuke asked as Dark slashed at the Heartless, aiming for the eyes.

_"Yep, Duzie's gonna murder us," _the spirit chirped, spinning the Keyblade in his hands. Another fireball splashed against the Heartless, burning through an arm.

'Well, it was nice knowing you while it lasted Dark,' Daisuke joked.

Dark chuckled as he dove under the final flailing arm, slashing into the armpit and drawing upwards along the shoulder. With a roar, the Heartless slumped, black gunk oozing out of the wound.

At the perfect angle, Dark twirled in midair, slicing the Keyblade through the creature's throat right as the sun rose. With a final roar, the Heartless dissolved, changing into a tall, graceful creature with thousands of stars flowing through him. With a start, Daisuke recognized the pattern as the creature that the Shikakami was turning into when this whole incident started.

Slowly, the Nightwalker, as Dark would later learn to be the creature's name, turned to stare at the rising sun, before toppling backwards, falling over Tataraba. With a low crash, it hit the charred remains of the fort, and a strong wind kicked up.

With a yell, Dark tumbled backwards, holding his arms up to protect his face.With a crash, he slammed into the ground face first, and was immediately knocked out.

…………………….

Hours later found the group ready to leave the planet. Daisuke, who had taken over after the crash, sealing the Keyhole in the Pool of the Shikakami, grinned as Duzell lectured him about rushing off into danger. The twins finally stopped him by announcing that they should buckle up, " as we didn't find that last piece of the navigation."

Seeing the panicked look on Duzell's face, Daisuke snickered as he strapped himself in. Mentally though, he hoped that this flight would be a little smoother than the last one.

…………………………..

"Well, they know how to use that useless chicken," snarked the purple-eyed man. He poked at the tall man with slitted eyes. "I hope you guys are happy, they have something to help them now!"

With a snarl, the offended man lunged at the skort-wearing teen, only for them to both find themselves levitating in mid air. The old man in the cloak tsked at them as he motioned to the side. As he did so, the pair flew into the wall. "Now now children, what have I said about playing nice?" he asked, acid yellow eyes glowing.

Groaning, the younger man rolled to his feet, shaking the stars from his eyes. "Mommy, make the room stop," he muttered lightly.

The old man with the moustache shook his head at the man in the cloak. "Nice work, you scrambled what brains he had left," he growled.

"Enough," commanded the red-eyed male in a rumbling voice. "Envy, don't you have work to do?" he asked.

The teen shook his head one final time before grinning. "Oh yeah, gotta go stir up the shrimp!" he chirped before summoning a sphere of darkness around him, disappearing.

The young man with the grill-like mask snorted at the antics of the 'youngest' member. "Naraku-sama, I do not understand why you keep that creature in your service," he intoned.

The newly named Naraku shrugged fluidly. "An annoyance he may be, but his skills more than make up for it," he countered. He turned to the mirror that the albino girl was holding, staring at the key bearer. "For now, we shall just keep an eye upon him, shall we?" he said.

Within the depths of the castle, a certain young man shuddered at the sound of evil laughter echoing off the walls.

* * *

Ok! I hope you enjoyed this! Longest chapter yet, with over 8000 words! Woot! I'm on a roll here! 

Yes, Watanuki is from Xxxholic, before anyone asks. Yes, Takeda was from the last chapter as well. Anyone who has read Xxxholic will understand how he is able to be on multiple worlds.

Anyway, show your love people! Read and Review!!

All of my love, and may The Force be with ya!


	8. Red Eyes, Gold Eyes, Shark Eyes

For the record, I wasn't going to update again for a while. Then I got this lovely review from Regina Raptorum, and it inspired be to continue! So here we are!! The next chapter!

Disclaimer: The day I own any of this stuff is the day I before President of the USA. Not Happening. And speaking of which, if Hilary gets in, I'm moving to Japan, I swear!!

_Music: Evening (Naruto) and Tobira no Mukou e_

* * *

Red Eyes, Gold Eyes, Shark Eyes

* * *

Duzell sighed as he padded through the library, his arms loaded with books. The twins were sitting in a corner a few feet away, and Gourry was giving his stack of tomes a confused look. As for Daisuke… 

The vampire shook his head as he walked over to the young thief's table. He set his books down carefully before gently shaking the teen's shoulder. "Daisuke, wake up," he murmured. Groaning, the youngster sat up, making a face when a page stuck to his cheek. "Any luck?" he asked.

Yawning, the young man ran a hand through his limp hair before shaking his head. "No, nothing yet." He looked down at the page he'd fallen asleep on, and pulled a face. "This is a recipe, but it's a cook book!" he said in disgust. He closed the book and stared at the cover for a second, barely taking in the name of the author, one Dr. Marcoh. With a sigh, he placed the book aside and grabbed another one, this one titled 'Everything You Need to Know About Automobiles.'

With a tired sigh himself, Duzell slid into a chair next to the teen, staring at his books. The group had been on their way back to Traverse Town when they'd been forced to land. Apparently, the ship had lost a lot of fuel when they crashed on the last world, and they wouldn't be able to go anywhere unless they found a reasonable substitute.

To make matters more complicated, this world seem to be on the cusp of air travel, but the natives had no idea as to what was needed for that yet. Also, they had landed in an area where the people didn't speak Japanese. Instead, Daisuke said that they seemed to be speaking German, or at least a language that was similar to German. Luckily enough, their written language was similar enough to Japanese that the others could read it.

Strangely enough, Daisuke found that he could understand them if he concentrated hard enough. Same with their written language. When asked, Dark denied responsibly, saying that languages were never his gift, just certain offensive magiks and the thrill of stealing.

"Maybe it's the Keyblade," Gourry had said. For once, the blond was correct. It WAS the magic of the Keyblade that allowed Daisuke to understand the natives. This was why their Pharaoh had always been the one to greet the people who'd fallen into his world. This was also just another task that Prince Yuugi wasn't able to perform.

Duzell moaned as he read a passage out loud. "Act One: Earnest awoke one morning to find that he'd been transformed, into a giant cockroach," he recited. "…what the hell?" he muttered before tossing the book aside.

Having heard the passage, the twins retrieved the play, placing it in the pile of books to take back with them. "Haruhi'll like this one," Hikaru muttered.

Shaking his head, Gourry stood up and stretched. "I'm going to take a walk," he murmured to his comrades. Luckily, he was dressed normally for the planet, a pair of slacks and a blue dress shirt.

Looking up from a promising book on different types of energy and fuel, Duzell nodded. "Here, take some of the money and get us some lunch, will you?" he said, passing him a small sack with a little of the local currency that the twins had snitched. Grinning, the blond waved a small salute as he sauntered out of the library.

Outside, the warrior grinned as he padded down the library steps to the cobblestone pavilion, breathing in the fresh air. His boots clicked on the cobblestones as he steered towards a vendor that they'd bought food from before, a vendor that seemed to have a vague grasp of Japanese. Unfortunately, the group was getting tired of Chinese food, so they were looking for anyone else.

Green banners were hung up in the corners of the pavilion, with the strange writing of the area scrawled out on them, declaring an exam that week. Gourry grinned at the thought of watching other natives fighting each other, as the rumor they'd heard was that two members of the military were going to fight in this exam. Some of the towns folk were already calling it the Metal vs. Flame round.

As Gourry rounded the corner to the Chinese stand, he spotted a large truck parked next to the building at the end of the street, the one with the metal gates. The blond shrugged it off at first, thinking that it was just a supply truck, until he heard swearing from the vehicle. Curious, he turned to look, only to he surprised at the sight of a group of men wrestling something out of the back of the truck, something humanoid in appearance.

The thing was swearing and cursing up a storm, calling to the forefront his take of his captors personal partner preferences, and that of their parents. Fortunately for it, the men didn't understand a word he was saying, as he was using the same dialect as Gourry! As the warrior peered closer, he noticed the shredded tan clothes, and lavender skin. Steel-colored hair was in disarray as intelligent blue eyes sparked and flared with repressed magic. His wrists were bound together and ropes were around his neck as the men in the blue uniforms pulled and yanked him along.

The thing that really jogged Gourry's memory though, were the patches of stone that dotted the captive's face.

"Zelgadis-san?!" he called. Hearing his name, the chimera looked up, locking eyes with Gourry. "Zelgadis-san!" Gourry cried happily, racing over to the warrior. Before he could get close though, the uniformed men pulled the poor man away, through the gates. The blond yelled to his friend as the gates closed with a crash. "Zelgadis-san! Zelgadis-san!!"

Before the chimera was pulled into the building, he managed to turn and look at the blond. "Gourry-san! Help me!" he yelled as he disappeared through the doors.

……………………………..

Back in the library, Daisuke jerked awake again as Gourry raced back in. "Where's the fire?" he murmured as he stretched lazily.

Gourry ignored the young thief as he strode over to Duzell. "One of my friends is here!" he exclaimed loudly, earning a round of shushes from the rest of the library.

Duzell however, was instantly on alert. "Which one? And where is he?" he asked in a lower voice. Curious, Daisuke and the twins huddled around the table.

The blond warrior shook his head as he sat down at the table. "It was Zelgadis-san. And he's been captured by those men in the blue uniforms!" he explained, holding his head. "We need to help him, who knows what those people can do to him?!" he wailed, his voice getting louder again.

This time, a young man from another table growled as he marched up to them, gold eyes flashing in annoyance. Gloved hands slammed down on the table as he barked at the group. "Do you mind shutting up? Some of us are trying to study for the Alchemy Exam!"

Being the only one who could understand the younger teen, Daisuke grinned sheepishly as he kicked Gourry under the table. "Ah, I'm sorry about him, he just learned something bad about a friend of his," he explained.

Calming, the blond stood up straight, shoving his hands into the pockets of his red coat. Even standing straight up, the teen was still shorter than the young thief. Curiosity entered his golden eyes as he looked at all of the books that the group were shuffling through. "What are you doing anyway? These aren't any good if you want to enter the exam as well," he offered, sorting through the piles.

Duzell wrinkled an elegant nose at the young man before him. "I would prefer if you did not mess with our books, young man," he muttered primly.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING SO YOUNG THAT HE'S NOT YET OUT OF DIAPERS!?" the teen exploded. It was quite impressive, as it was accompanied with flailing arms and gnashing teeth.

"He never said that!" Daisuke exclaimed as he backed away from the young man, before realizing that he'd responded to what Duzell had told him. "Wait, you can understand him?" he asked, making the red-clad teen stop.

"Of course I can, he's only speaking in Xingese. I learned that language years ago," he said flippantly.

"And how old are you?" Gourry asked as he leaned in.

The teen grinned as he pointed at himself. "I'm Edward Elric, fifteen years old, and the youngest member of the State Alchemists!" he said proudly. Introductions were quickly given all around, and Ed grinned as he looked at the older men. "So, do you know any alchemy? I hear that the Xing techniques are quite different from the ones Amestris uses and teaches," he asked, stars in his eyes at the chance to learn something new.

Before Duzell could answer in the negative, Daisuke grinned as Dark took over his vocal cords. _"Why don't you wait until the exams? This is not the place to be demonstrating anything,"_ he offered.

Mentally, Daisuke was growling at the spirit. 'You said you'd give me a warning next time you had to do this,' he muttered.

_ 'Sorry Daisuke, but would you rather Duzell mess everything up for us?'_ he offered as the younger teen finally walked back to his table.

"What was that all about? And what do you mean, wait until the exam?" Duzell hissed.

Grinning, Dark, who was in complete control, but still in Daisuke's form, gestured for the vampire to follow him as he lead him outside.

"What are you up to now Dark?" Duzell asked as they stopped in an alley.

Dark grinned as his body started to morph into his own. _"Aw, am I that transparent?"_ he asked as he leaned against the wall, Wiz crawling out of his shirt. He shrugged when the older man glared at him, stroking Wiz's fur. _"Well, we have no clue as to what we're looking for. These, 'Alchemists,' seem to be the main power in this world. If we enter this exam, then maybe we can get someone to help us with fuel for the ship,"_ he explained calmly.

"Just one problem Dark," Duzell offered, already trying to find a way for this plan to work. It was true, they were going nowhere with the books alone, and they needed to continue to look for the Pharaoh. "We don't know how to use alchemy, and only two of use can even use magic."

Dark grinned as he winked at the vampire. _"It can't be that hard to fake, can it?"_ he asked. _"Just a few choice illusions, some practiced lies, and we're golden!"_ he said, playing with a new summon marble he'd found hidden in the library shelves. While Fawkes had been in a blood red stone, this one was the color of sand.

A ways away from the pair, a tall man with a handlebar moustache snorted as he watched the two saunter back into the Central Library. "So, they think they can enter the exam that easily?" he muttered. "As if! There's no way they'll survive to get off this world!" he exclaimed lowly.

"I thought it was my job to take care of those people, and the one in red," a voice from behind the older man grated out.

The man grinned kindly as he looked back at the person behind him with his one good eye. "And indeed it is. You will be the one to kill the Full Metal Shrimp for us, Kouga."

The headlights from a passing automobile lit up the alley as the man stepped forward, revealing a man with sky blue eyes, and fur and armor. The man was nervous as he scanned the streets, claws hands flexing and unflexing around a sword at his side, and his tail swished restlessly against his thighs. He glared up at the uniformed man as he growled, revealing elongated canines. "Just remember our deal Fuhrer-san. I help kill these people for you, and you will not only take me home, but you will also resurrect the members of my pack, correct?"

The man nodded as he gestured towards the roof. "Yes, of course, as we agreed on. Now, you better get into hiding again. We wouldn't want you to be captured like the chimera and the shark man, now would we?" he asked. Shrugging, Kouga jumped up to an overhang, clawing his way up the wall until he reached the roofs.

Alone, the Fuhrer chuckled darkly, his lips lifting in a scimitar-like grin as he watched Ed march out of the library, heading back to his apartment and his brother. "And you, I only hope you can do your job as well, if Kouga fails," he called into the dark, eyes flashing purple momentarily.

There was no response, only a pair of red eyes that glowed before melting into the darkness.

……………………………..

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Kaoru asked as Daisuke and Duzell got ready for the final part of the exam. The group were camping out in the woods were they'd landed, which was luckily only a mile or so away from the exam, and half a mile from the city.

Daisuke shrugged. "We managed to pass the first part. I'm just glad that I can use magic without hurting Dark," he offered. Dark had been coaching Daisuke in how to use his magic, and the youngster had shown quite the flare for it, especially water spells.

Duzell placed a hand on the young man's shoulder. "Just stay calm today, alright?" He looked up at the twins as Gourry strapped his sword on. "We're going early today in order to see the exhibits of the confirmed Alchemists. Gourry's hoping that we'll be able to find his friend this way."

"Come on, we need to go if we want to get there on time!" Gourry insisted, playing with the special bands that had been given to him and the two magic users. Those bands would be their tickets into the exhibit. Their plan was to find whomever was holding Zelgadis, and try to break the poor chimera out. At that point, they would blend into the crowd, and ask around about anyone who could make the fuel they needed. They had figured out the ingredients, but they didn't have access to the amounts that they needed. Hopefully, they wouldn't get caught when they released the mage.

"Ok, I'm ready to go!" Daisuke chirped as he jumped out of the door. With a slight smile, Duzell exited gracefully after the hyper teen, Gourry right behind them.

"Do you think we'll see any Heartless this time?" Gourry asked as they entered the city a few minutes later. They'd found out that this exam was normally taken only once a year. Because of the Heartless killing off many of the Alchemists and regular police, the city had decided to increase the exams to one every few months. This one happened to coincide with the exams that the other State Alchemists had to take to keep their licenses.

Daisuke shrugged. "I heard a rumor that they were part of the tests today, but I'm not sure," he offered. Before he could say anything else, a tall figure in a cloak brushed past him, sky-blue eyes glancing at him as he went by. The young thief blinked at him, but shrugged as they continued into the city, heading for the fairgrounds.

The state had picked a good area for this part of the test. It practically was a fair, with some of the older Alchemists displaying their newest creations, medicines, and inventions. In one corner, a young man was using a bucket of water and a few alchemy symbols to create large, elegant ice statues. A woman was showing off what seemed to be carved frames and sculptures, until she created an elaborate wood panel in front of the young thief.

Near the middle of the fairgrounds was a tall cage. Seeing it, Gourry gulped slightly before jogging over to it, Duzell and Daisuke right behind him. To his surprise though, Zelgadis wasn't in the cage. Instead, a tall creature with blue, shark-like skin stood there, hands bound and fingers tied together. Shark-like eyes glared at the world around him, and it growled low in it's throat as Daisuke came up to read the plaque on the front of the cage.

"Specimen is a chimera, human and blue shark. Estimated age: late twenties, early thirties. Is able to manipulate water through specific patterns using the hands. As such, hands have been bound for the safety of the handler. Chimera was located along the outskirts Lior, but is thought to have originated from the country of Xing, due to the fact that it speaks their language."

Daisuke ignored the rest of the information, such as the 'chimera's' ability to breath underwater, to look up at the blue-skinned man. "Chimera can't talk normally, right?" he asked as Duzell edged up to him.

The vampire nodded. "Only one other was created before, and all it said as for someone to kill it," he muttered, remembering one of the journals he'd read.  
"Of course I'm no f(&ing chimera!" the man growled lowly, pointed teeth bared.

The trio looked at each other. He'd spoken in Japanese, using the same accent as Naruto and the other ninja back in Traverse Town. Growling again, the man slumped against the side of the cage, holding his bound hands against his forehead. "Where's my partner when I need him?" he muttered.

"So, you're not from this world then?" Gourry asked slowly, walking up to the cage in order to wrap a hand around the bars.

Smirking, the man lunged at the blond, only to clonk his head against the bars. Unfazed, he shook his head for a second as he crouched down to get closer to eye level with Daisuke. "I'm Hoshigaki Kisame, a ninja of the Five Countries, and I want out of here before those blue bastards over there slice me open!"  
_ 'Demon Shark? Daisuke, should we trust this guy?'_ Dark inquired.

'They're gonna kill him! At the least we can get him out!' the young thief protested. Turning back to Kisame, he looked the shark in the eye. "Do you know where the other 'chimera' is?" he asked.

Kisame raised a hairless eyebrow. "The guy with stone on his skin?" he asked. When the trio nodded, he jerked his head to the right. "He's over there, tied to the post. The only reason I'm in the cage is cause of the fact that I'm meaner," he said with an evil grin, baring shark-like teeth.

"Give us a few minutes then, we'll get you out, ok?" Gourry offered.

"Duzell, can you stay here for a minute?" Daisuke asked, pushing Wiz into his shirt as he thought of Riku. "Give us three minutes to find Zelgadis before getting rid of the shackles," he ordered as he shifted into Dark's form. If he was to get caught, he'd rather get caught in this form so he could still walk around in Daisuke's form.

Quietly, Dark and Gourry stalked over to where Kisame had pointed out, only for Gourry to suck in a breath at the sight of his friend. The chimera had been tied to a post, with his hands behind his back and a gag in his mouth. Blue eyes glared at the people around him, steel-like hair in disarray, only for him to start slightly at the sight of Dark and Gourry. Frantically, he jerked his head towards a man in a blue uniform. An Alchemist.

Cheekily, Dark winked at the sorcerer as he sauntered up to the alchemist, a mousy little man who looked like he lived in the library. _"So, what can you tell me about this creature here?"_ he asked, jerking his thumb at Zelgadis.

Seeing Dark occupying the man, Duzell gulped slightly, not completely sure about this, but still, he pulled out a small dagger from his sleeve, and sliced through the wires that were binding Kisame's fingers. With his fingers free, Kisame smirked as he ripped the shackles apart. Hands flashed through a series of signs, and the shark cackled before roaring, "Suiton: Bakusui Shoha!!"

Duzell suddenly found it harder to breath, as if all the oxygen was being sucked out of the air, right before a wave of water gushed forward, submerging half the cage, and destroying all the booths and tables in front of it.

At once, all the Alchemists in the area converged on the cage, trying to subdue the ninja. Electricity, fire, ice, all sorts of attacks flew through the air, letting Duzell sneak away.  
When the mousy man raced away to help with the ninja, Gourry and Dark quickly cut the man from the post, Gourry pulling the gag from Zelgadis' mouth. _"Get out of the city, the ship's in the forest,"_ Dark barked, pushing the man towards the gate, dodging a shark-shaped watery torpedo.

Zelgadis smiled as he pulled part of his shredded shirt up. "Thank you," he whispered before racing off, leaping up onto the rooftops.

An explosion caught the trio's attention before they could leave. When the smoke and steam cleared, Kisame stood there, arms crossed over his bare chest. "Ya know, I never got to thank you three," he said in an almost conversational tone. The muscles rippled in his shoulders and arms as he eased into a fighting stance. "How about I tear your legs off?" he asked.

"They are my targets!"

At the sound of the new voice, the foursome looked in it's direction, only to see the man in the cloak from earlier. Proudly, he threw his hood back, revealing sky-blue eyes and pointed ears, dark brown hair pulled back into a ponytail. Throwing the cloak away showed that he was clad in gray and black armor and fur, with a tail that swept against his legs.

Kisame laughed at the wolf man as he propped a fist on his hip. "As if a mangy animal like you could win against an S-class like me," he taunted, only to yelp when the creature suddenly streaked forward, a dust cloud kicked up as he attacked. "What the Hell are you?" he growled, pressing a hand to the claw wounds that had opened in his side.

The man grinned, baring fangs that may not have been as impressive as Kisame's, but were scary all the more for them. "I am the demon Kouga, the Prince of the Eastern Wolf Pack. And as far as you're concerned, I AM your better!" he declared, flexing his hand. With a flash, metal claws appeared, covering the nails and fingers of his right hand.

At this, Kisame snarled, pulling thin lips back to reveal every last sawed tooth. "I'll show you who's better!" he growled, going through a rapid pattern of hand seals. Seeing this, the wolf stiffened, and Dark and the others went into defensive positions, remembering the sharks from before.

"Let them go, Kisame," a new voice ordered softly. A lone man swept up, a metal headband tied on his forehead, the familiar Konoha symbol scratched, but a beacon to Dark and the others. Long raven hair was tied back, and red eyes blazed. Seeing him, Kisame nodded after a second, lowering his hands.

"What are you doing here? These are my prey!" the wolf growled, arching his metal-clad claws threateningly. Turning to the creature, the Uchiha,-what else could he be with those eyes?-glared, only for the demon to stiffen, then howl in pain as he collapsed to the ground.

"Hey!" Gourry yelled, turning to the Uchiha. "Wasn't he your ally or something?" he yelled, confused.

"And what, gave you that idea?" the man asked, tossing a cloak to Kisame. Happily, the shark-man pulled the cloak on, revealing the red clouds printed on the dark material, same as the Uchiha's. "We may have been hired by the same man, but we are not allies," the man offered.

"You…" the wolf growled on the ground, clawing his way back up onto hands and knees. "He, promised…." he managed to gasp out before falling over onto his side, trying to stay awake. "fuhh….rer..." he slurred, trembling from pain, anguish and exhaustion.

Shaking his head, the Uchiha turned to leave, Kisame following him loyally. "Poor wolf, you have no idea what that creature was," he muttered. "And as for you three," he said, turning around for a second, "I give you, a parting gift."

_ "And what would that be?"_ Dark asked sarcastically.

With a slow smirk, the man raised his hand, summoning a horde of Heartless. As the twitching, pulsating mass converged on the trio, the two ninja flickered away.

Duzell swore softly under his breath as he started weaving a spell. Before he could finish, Dark grinned as he pulled the newest summon off the Keyblade, which had materialized the second the Heartless appeared. _"I wondered how it felt to summon one of these,"_ he muttered before pushing his magic into the yellow gem. Unbidden, the words spilled from his lips as the new creature shimmered into being, like a mirage in the desert. _"I call on you, the One-tailed Demon, Shukaku!"_

Cackling, the beast stomped on the Heartless around it as it bellowed, "I'm free! I'm finally freed from that accursed statue!" Gleefully, it pounded on the dark creatures under paw, beady black eyes dancing happily.

_ "Wow. Ok, let's not summon him again," _Dark muttered as he slashed through a large, potbellied Heartless that was trying to body slam him. Mentally, Daisuke nodded emphatically.  
Duzell snorted as he jumped away from a Heartless in what appeared to be clunky armor, jumping on top of what used to be the cage. "Sul!" he called out sharply, releasing his magic in the form of sharp blades of wind, killing off a good handful of Heartless. Turning, he raised an eyebrow at Dark as he threw a handful of fire into a cluster of the creatures. "And why did you summon him?" he asked, ducking away from a Heartless, sent flying by Gourry.

Dark scoffed as he danced away from a squad of the creatures, backing up towards the cage himself. _"I didn't know it was a homicidal demon!" _he argued, panting for breath. _"I'm just hoping we can get rid of him!"_ he muttered, glancing at the Tanuki who was happily destroying Heartless and buildings alike. He glanced out at Gourry with a grin. _"Looks like Gourry's having fun though,"_ he joked, nodding towards the human cannonball.

"Good for him," Duzell retorted flatly. "Vara a ilya!" he chanted, extending his hands towards his comrades. As he did, sparks of pure green fanned out, covering Dark and Gourry. To the vampire's surprise, they settles on the trembling form of the wolf demon, who was struggling to get back on his feet. At the moment, he was only up on his knees and hands, the strange metal claws gouging the cobblestones. 'Wonder why it worked on him too?' he thought.

_ "What was that?" _Dark asked as he twirled, running a Heartless through. Before he could turn around, a small red, lantern-like Heartless grinned as it threw a wave of fire at the thief. Yelping, he held a hand up, but blinked when the fire washed over him. _"What the?"_

"Basically it's a shield for most magic," Duzell offered as he threw a small wave at the lanterns.

Panting, Gourry backed up towards the pair, sword in front of him as he tried to kill another Large Body. His sword just kept bouncing off of the creature though, until Dark stepped in and slashed the Heartless with the Keyblade. "How many of these things are there?!" he exclaimed, leaning back against the bars of the trashed cage.

Dark gasped for air as he plowed through a dozen of the red lantern Heartless, weakened from a blast of water from Duzell. _"We've got to be almost through them all,"_ he gasped weakly, backing up next to Gourry.

"Wish we hadn't sent Zelgadis away," Duzell commented, trying to catch his breath. As a master vampire, he had a large amount of magic, but that doesn't mean he had the stamina to use so much so quickly. Especially with the body of a wild cat as his original form. There was only so much magic he could channel at a time. "Sul. Sul! Naur!!" he yelled, throwing wind and fire into a small herd of the armored Heartless.

Suddenly, red sparks flew through the air, and a large section of the cobblestones surged into the air, trapping the rest of the Heartless within a thick wall of stone. Grateful for the break, the trio straightened, looking around for the person responsible.

"What the Hell is going on here?" Ed snapped as he marched up, red coat snapping behind him. Right behind with was a suit of armor, matching him step for step. Only Duzell was about to see that it was possessed. "How did all of those creatures get in here, I thought that the city was being patrolled by the rest of the military!" he barked.

"Someone summoned them?" Gourry said stupidly.

Ed opened his mouth to ask how someone could 'summon' so many Heartless, only for Dark to clear his throat. _"Really guys, you know that thing isn't going to hold them for long,"_ he said, pointing. Even as he said this, a few shadows were starting to form on the stone, showing a few Heartless starting to ooze through.

"Oh, why don't we get the badger to help?" Gourry asked, pointing at Shukaku, who was still rampaging, blasting sand at the final Heartless Large Body.

Hearing him, Shukaku turned around, growling. "I am not a badger!! I'm a Tanuki!" he growled. Angrily, he blasted sand at the blond, who yelped and dodged around the stony prison. Following him, the sand scoured away at the stone and Heartless, eating towards the warrior.

"Shit! Dark, get rid of him!" Duzell ordered.

_ "How?!"_ the thief yelped, ignoring Wiz, who was trying to pull on his hair. _"The last one just left, I don't know how to make this one go!"_

'Try ordering it!' Daisuke called mentally.

Nodding, the spirit patted Wiz of the head, signaling for him to transform into his winged form. Second later, they were in the air, and Dark circled the Tanuki. _"Shukaku! I order you to stop!"_ That didn't really work. The demon just grinned before throwing a handful of sand at the thief. Skillfully, Dark swooped away before returning to flutter in front of the Ichibi. _"Stop now! Go back into the stone!!"_ he yelled fiercely, holding up the stone in question.

That seemed to work. With a roar, Shukaku started to dissolve, a swirl of sand-colored light circling the thief before infusing themselves with the summon stone again. The body of the demon wavered, and collapsed as the last of the light entered the stone, dissolving into a large pile of sand.

Sighing, Dark relaxed, floating back down to the ground. Looking over at Gourry, he was relieved to see that not only was the warrior safe, but the Heartless were all gone. _'Daisuke? You need to take over, I don't have any magic left,'_ he thought as he tapped down, only to fall to his knees, Keyblade as his side.

'Alright Dark,' Daisuke said mildly. With a breath, he shifted back into his own form, Wiz changing back into his cute, fuzzy self.

"What the HELL are you?" Ed asked, eyes wide. "Are you a chimera yourself?" he asked softly.

"No, I'm just possessed," Daisuke said, letting the Keyblade dissipate.

Before Ed could ask, there was a groan from Kouga, who had staggered up to his feet, leaning heavily against the remains of the cage, which was little more than a crumbled ball of metal. He was staring at Ed and Al, the suit of armor, and was growling weakly. "You, you're the one, he send me to kill," he snarled, trying to right himself. "I'll kill you first, then I'll, I'll track that, bastard down and, skin him alive," he muttered just loud enough for the others to hear him.

"Why are you trying to kill Big Brother?" the suit asked in a small voice.

Kouga growled, trying to take a step, but stumbling. "I was told, that if I killed you, he would bring, my pack back, to life," he snarled, flexing his hand threateningly.

"Who told you?" Duzell asked. No matter the world, most of the magical and scientific laws made the raising of souls impossible. What's worse was the fact that Duzell had come across multiple references that using Alchemy to raise the dead was illegal because it rarely worked, and it always took the life of whomever was performing the alchemy itself.

The wolf demon shook his head, confused. "He looked human, but he didn't, smell it," he said slowly, his knees trembling as he tried to keep from falling on his face. "His eye, it kept, flashing purple." With a slight groan, he sank back to his knees, claws sinking into the weakened metal.

Ed's eyes narrowed at that description. "Envy," he muttered. Shaking his head, he marched up to the demon, much to the distress of his brother, and looked him in the eye. "Even if he was human, that 'thing' would have never been able to bring back your family," he said heartlessly. "Human-alchemy is forbidden for good reasons," he stated, gripping his arm. Duzell and Daisuke could see that the arm didn't have the same give as flesh would.

"so," Kouga growled softly, "he was lying to me?" When both brothers nodded, the growl scaled higher, and the demon stumbled back upright. "I'll kill him!!" he yelled with more energy than ever.

'What is with this guy and killing people?' Daisuke thought, only to get a mental shrug from Dark. Out loud, he commented, "How can you kill him if you don't know where he is?"

Kouga flashed his fangs at the young thief as he stumbled forward. "I can smell him you idiot!" he spat angrily. Sniffing the air, he growled lowly as he turned towards the military base. "There he is," he said menacingly before stumbling forward, surprisingly fast for someone who'd just been weak as a kitten. Looking in the direction that Kouga was going, Duzell was surprised to see a man grinning at the demon before ducking away. A man with an eye patch, and a scimitar-like grin.

Growling, Kouga loped after the man, his stride evening out as he ran. Confused, Ed, Al and the other followed after him, Ed and Al confused because they'd seen the man as well. The military office was only a few minutes away, and Kouga barked at the man, who had halted in front of the gate.

"Ah, good to see you again Wolf-boy, Fullmetal shrimp," he said with a smirk. The single eye flicked towards Daisuke and the others, and the grin grew wider. "Ah, there it is," he muttered, looking at the Keyblade, which had materialized at the sight of the man.

"Envy! Why'd you'd do this!" Ed yelled, clapping his hand, then running one over his right arm. To the surprise of the others, a deadly-looking metal spike extended in a shower of blue sparks, shredding his sleeve.

"What had you think I did anything?" the man asked cheekily as he shifted back on his rear foot. Suddenly, there were purple sparks, and the man shifted, into the form of a young man with long spiky green hair, purple eyes, and a dark shirt and skort. "All I did was give a few nudges," he joked, smirking at Kouga.

"You bastard!" Kouga roared, clawed toes digging into the stone as he streaked forward, the steel claws materializing on his hand again. The creature, Envy, only grinned, and ducked away.

Those purple eyes turned on Daisuke as he ducked a wild swipe at his head. "So Key-kid, have you been traveling for so long that you've forgotten about your friends?" he asked, bending backwards away from a kick.

Daisuke startled at the mention of his friends. "You know about them?" he asked incredulously. Seconds later, he dived into the fray, ignoring Dark, who was warning him that this felt like a trap.

Envy just grinned as he jumped away, jumping up to land on the top of the gates of the military entrance. "If I were you, I'd be more worried about the white angel, then the girl," he teased before falling backwards off the gate, into a familiar black and purple shadowy portal.

"Shit!" Ed growled, transmuting the blade back, revealing a metal arm.

Daisuke though, was distracted by a familiar tingle of magic. Holding the Keyblade up, he aimed at the gate, and grinned as a beam of light shot out, hitting the gate with the click of a lock.

"I know where I've heard of you before!" Gourry exclaimed all of a sudden. Curious, the others turned to look at the warrior, who nodded as he grinned at Kouga, who had gone weak in the knees again. "Yeah, I met these two guys back in Traverse Town! They wore the same furry skirts as you! And one had a mohawk," he said.

The demon gaped at the description of the two. "Did one have a chain over his shoulder?" he asked. When the blond nodded, Kouga grinned slightly. "My packmates," he muttered. Turning to Daisuke, he swallowed before kneeling, arching his head back slightly. "If at all possible, could you take me to them?" he asked.

'What's he doing?' Daisuke thought.

_ 'A mix of protective and submissive,'_ Dark offered. _'His hands are still up, but he's baring his throat and stomach. He wants you to forgive him, but if you take a swipe at him, he'll tear out your throat.'_ The spirit paused before finishing his thought. _'He must have lived in a dangerous world to be this paranoid of_ you,'

'Thanks Dark,' Daisuke thought sarcastically taking offense at the spirit calling him weak. Gently, making sure Kouga could see his hands, he grabbed the wolf by the wrist, pulling him up. "You don't need to do that, of course we'll give you a ride!"

"One problem Daisuke," Duzell interceded. "We still don't have fuel for the ship."

"What do you need?"

It was only the work of a few hours for Edward to get the materials for them and to transmute them into the fuel. In exchange, the vampire gave Ed the recipe for the fuel itself, and all the notes they'd accumulated during their stay in the library. After reading through the first page, the young blond was happy to help out. As Daisuke entered the ship though, he couldn't help but feel a sense of foreboding, as if that wouldn't be the last time he'd see the Uchiha, or Envy.

Laughing, Envy waltzed into the dark room, a small wound on his shoulder healing in a flurry of purple sparks. "Man, that kid packs a wallop!" he joked, only to stop short at the dirty looks being sent at him from the rest of the group. "What? Do I offend?" he asked before sniffing a pit.

"You told the kid about his friend."

Envy waved a hand negligently. "No, I teased him with the hint that I have information on his friends. There's a difference, like that between parental feelings and pedophilia!" he joked.

The man in the coat growled. "He didn't need to know anything!"

"Ah, go play with your giant robots!"

"Enough!" Naraku intoned, silencing the Homunculus. "Envy, you need to go and search for the other Princesses. You are the only one who can blend in perfectly," he ordered.

Envy sighed before summoning a random portal. "Yeah yeah, I'm going." He turned right as he entered the inky shadows. "Anyone want some ramen while I'm gone?" he asked, only to dive away as the others glared at him.

Silently, Naraku rose from his seat on the tatami. "As for myself, I believe I will take the boy and solidify his loyalty to our cause," he said, red eyes glowing demonically as the light faded from the mirror.

* * *

And now, for your enjoyment, 

_**WORLDS THAT NEVER WILL BE**_

Basically, worlds that won't make the cut for some reason or another.

**DAWN OF THE LIVING DEAD**

"This is insane!!!" Daisuke screamed as he ran away from the ravening, snarling horde behind him.

"No arguments here!" Gourry yelled as he slashed at a faster creature.

"Who the HELL came up with the bright idea of Heartless ZOMBIES!?"

And because this one was short...

**LOVELESS**

"Ok, this is kinda cool," Daisuke muttered as he flicked his new red puppy-like ears. "But Duzell, how come you have ears, but Gourry doesn't?"

Duzell hunched up in embarrassment, his new, kyawl-like ears flat against his white hair. A pair of girls, both without ears, giggled as they listened in on Daisuke's comment. "It's not my fault, Gourry's married," Duzell muttered. "It's not fair! I wouldn't have had these stupid things a hundred years ago!" the vampire ranted lowly, cursing Phelios, Fate, Ishtar, and himself for being reincarnated as a cat.

* * *


	9. Return to Traverse Town

Dude, has it really been over a year?

I thank my Beta AkumaKoronso for her continuing patience with me.

Disclaimer: I do not own Kingdom Hearts, DNAngel, Vampire Game, Slayers, Naruto, Tales of Symphonia, Inuyasha, Eragon, Redwall, DBZ, Foamy, anything from Disney or Broadway, Ouran Host Club, Hetalia Axis Powers, Dragonlance, Alien 2, Legend of Zelda, Twilight, Hellsing, Lord of the Rings, Avatar, Fallout 3, Firestarter, or Nightwalker. Wow, that's quite a list.

The person who can find all the new references gets a cookie and a sneak peek at the next chapter. And by references, I mean not the obvious characters, the ones I only hint at, or just lines. Heck, just find Hetalia and the Alien 2 things, and you get the cookie!

Oh, and I apologize for Jasper. He's a sweet heart, but I couldn't help it.

* * *

_CHAPTER NINE: RETURN TO TRAVERSE TOWN  
_

_"Air!"_ Dark gasped, sticking his head out of the ship door, Wiz knocked out on his shoulder. The ship was back in Traverse Town, after two weeks in space.

Two LONG weeks, in a small ship, with seven people, minimal water reserved for drinking only, and the rancid smell of unwashed wolf. While the others didn't have a choice, Daisuke and Dark had been switching back and worth to let each other have a break from the smell.

With gasps, the rest of the crew piled out of the ship, the twins piled on each other as they tried to breathe. Zelgadis was a little better off with his mask up, and Gourry only had a normal sense of smell. Poor Duzell though, had an exceptional nose, and the smell had overpowered him to the point that he'd lost control and collapsed into his cat-like form. Dark had the cat thrown over his shoulder.

Kouga smirked as he strolled out of the ship. He knew that he smell ripe, but the demon really didn't care. In fact, he thought their reactions were kinda funny. "This is Turabersu Townu?" he asked, pale eyes scanning their allies, and the diverse species and people that wandered up and down the streets in the fading sunlight.

Dark sighed as he surveyed the busy streets. _"Yep. Don't know where your friends are, but the Ninja are in charge. They should know,"_ he offered, giving a short wave to a pair of winged formed flying low in the air. Seeing them, the pair spiraled low and landed, revealing a pair of men, one in dark, purple tinted leather and the other in a cape and what seemed to be the regale of a noble man. The thief grinned as he walked over to the angelic pair, Duzell still draped over his spandex-clad shoulder. _"Yo, Kratos, Yuan, how's the patrol going?"_ he asked.

The bluenette smirked as he crossed his arms over his chest, crystal wings dissolving as he relaxed a little. Kratos' wings dissolved as well as the other man flicked blue eyes up at the thief. "It's been rather quiet, just the normal Heartless that appear with newcomers."

_"Newcomers? Like who?" _

Kratos took up the thread, as he was the one who helped out the Ninja more than the anti-social Yuan did. "Animals for some reason. A talking mouse with a sword and armor named Martin, a floating cat, and a very opinionated squirrel. There are also a few more humans as well. A few gypsies, more of the Ninja from Yami-ou's world, some normal children, a Taijiya, a pair of mages, another vampire and a handful of people who claim to really be lions."

"Lions? Like the big kitties?" Gourry asked.

"Exactly. Most of their women are on patrol but the main pair is back at the inn," Yuan offered.

_"And where are the two wolfs? Are they on patrol as well?" _

"No, I think they're on break at the armory, helping Shido repair a few weapons," Kratos said.

The twins sighed as one, knowing what was about to happen. "Well, if you don't mind us, we're gonna go to the inn, get something to eat!" they chirped together, ignoring Gourry's questions of 'Food? Where?'

Duzell, who had recovered enough to transform into his black-haired form, rolled his eyes as he looked over at the twins. "If you insist on doing that twincest routine, at least try to charge for it. We could always use the money," he ordered, leaning back against the hull of the ship. "Gourry, I know you're hungry, go with them."

Dark grinned as the twins wandered off, Gourry and Zelgadis following like chicks, the swordsman drooling at the thought of Tsunade and Sakura's food. 'Dark, let me out, it's my turn!' Daisuke insisted. Sighing, Dark rolled his eyes before relinquishing control, their body flashing as he shrank into Daisuke's form. "Is the armory still over at the west end of town? I know that Piandao was planning to move the shop," he asked, red-eyes bright.

Kratos rolled his eyes as Yuan snickered. "No, the fire-bender had to move it to the southern end. SOMEONE burned down the building."

"And half of the rest of the district!" Yuan laughed, eyes bright.

_'What the Hell happened?'_ Dark asked, Daisuke echoing him as they started towards the south end of the town. Kouga and Duzell trailed after them, Kouga snickering. After weeks together with Daisuke and Dark, he could tell when the pair were having the same thought.

Kratos sighed. "Link and a newcomer, an elf named Haldir got into a fight. Something about who is a true elf."

Yuan laughed. "Of course, if they knew Kratos and I are half-elves, they would probably band together to fight us!" he admitted.

"Most likely. During the fight, they ended up on the roofs, and Link used a fire arrow. He missed, and hit the armory. From there, it spread to the other shops, including the butchery, and the magic shop."

Seeing Dark and Duzell wince made the wolf curious. "What was wrong with it hitting the magic shop?" Kouga asked, tail waving as he leaned in closer to the mercenary.

"Quite a few of the potions and ingredients react negatively to heat and flame," Yuan offered. He grinned again, trying to hold in his laughter. "The fireworks were amazing!"

"Those 'fireworks' took out half of the shopping district!" Kratos insisted. "We were lucky to contain it. Some of the newcomers were able to help with that though."

Duzell shook his head, white hair flying at the movement. "I hope you were able to replace the stock in there while we were away."

Daisuke looked up at the half-elf as they turned down the street into the southern district. "You've mentioned the newcomers before. Were any of them from my list?" he asked. As the first from his world to land in Traverse Town, Daisuke had been asked to submit as many names as he could think of, in case someone showed up.

The red-headed elf smirked as he nodded, taking note of the figure of the figure of a young lady exiting one of the weapon shops. "Actually yes, one of your names was checked off."

"Really? Who is it?"

"NIWA-KUN!"

"Harad-aaaaghh!" Daisuke choked as the young girl jumped on him, wrapping her arms around his neck and throwing them to the ground. Immediately, Risa released him, babbling apologies as she leaned back against his legs. The thief groaned as he rubbed his head, ignoring the angry grumblings from the spirit in the back of his mind. "Harada-san, how'd you get here? You weren't here when we left!" he asked. Behind the pair, two new figures turned the corner, wondering about the noise.

The young lady sat up straighter, obviously proud of herself. "I managed to convince Hatake-san to let me come over on the ship from the desert world!" she declared. "Have you seen anyone else? My sister? Our class?"

Daisuke shook his head sadly. "No, I haven't found anyone. I didn't know you were alive till just now!" he insisted, ignoring the quartet behind him. The 'angels' were smirking as they watched the young man flounder with the girl, and Duzell and Kouga were watching in interest. Before Risa could say anything, Yuan nodded to his partner as he moved on, going to finish their circuit.

"Well, how about Dark? I find it hard to believe that such a strong, noble man like him would die like that!" she insisted with stars in her eyes.

Before Daisuke could answer, there were twin howls from around the corner, only to be answered by Kouga as the wolf charged. Ginta and Hakkaku had heard the disturbance, and in coming to check it out, had found their old pack-leader. The trio descended into a growling yipping pile of fur, the two younger demons sobbing as they clung to the older Alpha. Growling, the older demon tried to pry the two betas off of him, but they could tell that it was a half-hearted attempt. The wolf had obviously missed his pack as much as they had missed him.

Sniffling, the older of the two straightened long enough to look at the young art thief. "Thank you for finding Kouga for us Dark!" he exclaimed before burying his spiky head into Kouga's shoulder again, much to the wolf's annoyance.

Risa's head shot up at this. "Dark? Where is he? Dark!" she called, standing up and shouting around.

Ginta raised an eyebrow at the girl as he looked up. "But he's right there," he said, pointing at Daisuke, who was trying to gesture for the younger wolf to stop.

"Daisuke?"

The young man sighed as he stood up, petting Wiz unconsciously as he gave the girl a sheepish look. "He's right here, Harada-san."

_'Daisuke, don't do this!'_

'Bit too late Dark.'

Where?"

"He's me."

"You? But you're not the Phantom Thief!"

Daisuke blinked as he allowed Dark to come forward, his eyes darkening from red-brown to purple. "He's been a part of my family for generations now. He's as much a part of me as I am a part of him."

"It's true," Duzell offered from behind the boy. "I've been traveling with Daisuke and Dark for months now. I've seen them both."

Risa looked at Daisuke in disbelief, and Daisuke sighed. With a breath, he allowed his body to shift, forcing the protesting Dark to the front. Sheepishly, the Phantom Thief rubbed the back of his head as the young girl stared at him in awe and disbelief. _"Sorry you had to here about it like this my dear,"_ he offered.

Before Risa could say anything, Yuan landed with a thud, panicking as he turned to Duzell. "We have trouble, you need to get to the inn!"

The vampire turned sharply as the rest of the group looked over at the 'angel,' wondering what was happening. "What's wrong?" the vampire asked as he marched up to the half-elf.

"We need you to put up shields. We have a young pyrokinetic with no training, and she just fell in and is panicking!"

_"A pyroki-what?"_

"A fire starter!"

As Duzell and Yuan raced off, Dark frowned as he turned to the wolves. _"Ginta, Hakkaku, can you two get the Firebenders? I have a feeling they'll need to teach this one."_ As the pair raced off, Kouga following in order to learn the lay of the town. _"I'm sorry Risa-chan,"_ he offered, _"But I need to go and help with this,"_ he explained.

"Take me with you!" she ordered, grabbing his sleeve. "I've been taking care of the younger kids, maybe I can help with this one," she explained.

"No time to argue!" Dark said as he signaled Wiz to transform. "Hold on to my neck," he ordered as dark wings unfurled and he launched himself into the sky. The girl gave a small shriek, but clung to him tightly as the man held her to himself. Eyes were bright as she looked around, taking in the sight of Traverse Town from the air for the first time. Lights were starting to come on in the houses, and from the air, they gave the city a glow in the fading twilight. Dark chuckled a little at the sight of the girl in his arms, amused by her curiousity.

All too soon, the flight was over. Dark pinions folded back at the Thief landed in front of the inn, carefully letting the girl get to her feet. Even from outside the inn, they could hear the sound of crying, and they charged in as Duzell and Yuan came around the corner.

Inside, they could see why the girl was crying. Not only was she in a strange new world, but she was surrounded by strange people she didn't know, including Gackt, who had apparently discarded the cornrows, Sakura, and a pair of people who must have been the lions Yuan and Kratos had mentioned. They were wearing strange costumes, elaborately beaded, with rope tails and headdresses in the shape of lion heads, the male with a red mane coming from his. The sight of them was scary enough, with almost feral yellow eyes, and the purring growls that were issuing from their throats in an attempt to calm the child.

It was at this point that Dark noticed how hot the room was. The hair on the back of his neck went up as he pulled Risa behind him, a black feather materializing in his hand. His shields may not be as strong as Duzell's, but he hoped they were good enough to protect him from this child.

Purple eyes flicked to the door as Duzell and Yuan entered, the vampire mage in his secondary form, black hair and feminine body, to try and keep from scaring her any more. At once, he kneeled in front of her, holding her by the shoulders as he spoke softly. "I know you're scared little one, but you need to calm down!" he insisted.

"She doesn't understand Japanese," Gackt said. "She speaks English."

"Then translate for me!" the vampire insisted before turning back to the little blond. "Take a deep breath, calm down. You're about to hurt everyone in here!"

"I can't stop it!"

"Yes you can! Calm down, get your emotions under control!" Duzell insisted, voice soothing as Gackt chattered away, translating everything back and forth from English and Japanese. Dark was surprised to find that he understood everything the little girl was saying, and he figured it was because of the Keyblade again.

"I don't want to do the Bad Thing!"

"The fire? If you don't want that, then calm yourself, and it will go away."

The girl in the green blouse gasped for air as she lunged forward, holding onto the surprised vampire as she took a shuddering breath. Slowly, they could feel the room cooling as she visibly calmed down, pulling herself back in control. "Thank goodness," Risa breathed as the little girl collapsed against the vampire, shivering in fear of her own abilities.

"I thank Kami-sama every day for Gackto-san," Sakura said as she sidled up to the Thief. "Without him, we wouldn't understand half of the people here. Not only that, but he's helping to teach everyone English and Japanese, including the lions. THEY fell into here speaking a mix of English and Swahili, and he's using that as a basis to teach them Japanese."

_"I can't believe she wasn't trained to control herself before this. Didn't anyone on her world help her?"_ Dark asked, lowering his hand as he relaxed.

"We shall have to ask her when we take over." Dark turned around at the sound of the new voice to see the wolves leading Piandao and Zuko into the inn. Piandao smiled at the little girl as she looked up at them, and Zuko rubbed his mouth to try and hide a smile of his own. Dark could see why; she really was an adorable little thing.

"I agree though, she should have taught self-control as soon as she started showing signs of talent in this field," the younger firebender said. "It's common practice to do so with such a volatile element."

Risa gave the older boy a curious look. "She can't be older than eight! When do your children start showing signs?" she asked.

Zuko shook his head. "Much younger. I did as a toddler, and my sister practically from the cradle."

_"We can always ask when she started. Gackt, care to help us out here?"_

The rock star nodded as he turned to the little girl, blue eyes soft as he chattered away in English. After a few seconds, the girl blinked as she looked up at him, offering a few sentences. "She says her name is Charlie, and she's been able to make fire since she was baby."

The fire nation men blinked at this. It was very rare on their world for a child to start showing signs of Bending that young. As Zuko had said, the last child to do so had been Azula and maybe Aang, the young Avatar had never stated. Piandao gave the young Firebender an apprehensive look. "Maybe we can get Sapphira and Link to help out. Link knows a few fire spells, and as a dragon, Sapphira should know a few things about this."

"And Eragon has shown talent in fire magic, he'll be helpful as well."

Smiling, Dark shook his head at the two, knowing they'd figure it out, as he kneeled next to Charlie, smiling as he signaled Wiz to relax back into his rabbit form. Squeeing, the girl snatched the rabbit up in a hug, much to Wiz's annoyance. Blinking, the thief noticed a spot of red on her throat. _"Charlie, when did you get hurt?"_ he asked, gently lifting her chin.

The girl sniffled into Wiz's fur, but kept herself under control as Sakura examined the small wound. "The bad men found Daddy and me again. Something sharp stuck me there," she offered. "I felt sleepy, and then I saw the dark ones, and then I woke up here."

Sakura hummed as she healed the small hole, listening as Dark repeated what the girl had told him. "Looks like a tranquilizer dart wound. She said the bad men found her and her father? Maybe she hasn't been trained because there was no one to train her in her world. She may be the first of her kind back home."

"Sir?" Dark turned to look at the girl as she stared up at him and Duzell, who was still holding her loosely. "Where is Daddy? Have you seen him?" Dark bit his lip, knowing that they hadn't seen anyone else yet, but the girl beat him to the punch. "Then will you tell me as soon as you find him?"

The Thief startled at this; was she telepathic too? But he nodded as he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder. _"As soon as we find him, we'll bring him here. There are other worlds he could have fallen into, including a Desert world Harada-san here,"_ he gestured to Risa, who looked up as she heard her name, _"just came from. In fact, she's offered to take care of you until we find your dad. Is that ok?"_

Charlie stared at Risa for a moment, and Dark and the others got the distinct impression that the little girl was looking beyond Risa, at something only she could see, before nodding. "Will she teach me to speak the way you all are?" she asked.

_"Of course she will!"_ Dark smiled, parroting Daisuke's words in his head. _"Risa is one of the smartest in her class, she'll have you speaking in no time!"_ Risa blushed at the praise from the Phantom Thief, but nodded as she offered her hand to the little girl.

As the two girls started to get to know each other, Risa with her faltering English, Dark turned to Yuan, who had been wisely staying in the background during the entire episode with the little tinder box. "Has the bank been set up yet?"

The bluenette nodded as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Yes we have. Until someone used to the work falls into Traverse Town, the Ninja have said that they will take care of running it. I believe one of the Hyuuga is there now." He pointed out the door. "It's over in the West section, right outside the Southern Shopping district." He smirked as he flicked blue eyes up at the thief. "It was one of the building that was erected right after the fire."

With a thanks to the half-elf, Dark slipped out the door, allowing Daisuke to come back to the front. Taking in a deep breath, the youngster smiled as he started walking towards the west, watching as the last of the sun disappeared over the horizon, bringing in true evening.

The bank was one of the few buildings made from stone. It made sense though, as Traverse Town hadn't come up with a true currency yet, everyone traded and bartered. The bank was mostly to protect valuables, such as magic items or jewelry or just sentimental items. The young boy grinned as he entered the tall oak doors, summoning the Keyblade. In his case, it was a magical item he needed to store.

The young woman at the desk looked up at the soft sound of footsteps, pale eyes all but glowing as she smiled at the boy. "D-Daisuke, do you need some help?" Hinata asked.

The young thief pulled a certain pale yellow summon stone from the Keyblade, unwraveling the wire from around it as he placed it on the counter. "I need to store this. He's too unpredictable for me to handle," he said.

"What is it?" she asked as she delicately picked the stone up.

"It's a summon. It called up a very large Tanuki named Shukaku."

The girl startled at this, dropping the stone as she backed away. "Shukaku! As in Ichibi no Shukaku!"

"Oh, so you know him?"

"He was from our world, but I thought he'd been destroyed." Hinata shook her head as she turned around, opening a small drawer in the wall. "W-we reserved this o-one for you, in case you needed it." she offered as she picked up the summon with her fingertips, very reluctant to touch anything that had to do with one of the more insane Bijuu.

"Just make sure none of the mages get their hands on it, ok?" Daisuke asked, coiling the wire back up, just in case he came across another stone.

Hinata blinked before looking back at the young thief. "A-are you collecting these stones?"

"Kinda. They seem to be creatures of pure magic or Chakra."

"Well, Neji-niisan found something similar to this one." She opened another drawer and pulled out a small orange stone. She passed it to the young man, smiling nervously as she offered it to the young thief. "C-can you tell what it is?"

The young man took a deep breath as he cradled the stone in his palms, gently enveloping it with a tendril of his magic. He had learned how to do this by practicing with the Phoenix Summon on the space ship. While the fire bird was all warm, fire, and protective healing, this one was righteous anger, blood lust, and power. Despite the unsettling sensation of life's blood spraying hot over his face-a side effect of 'looking' at the stone this way-he didn't sense any true evil from the summon. "Vampire," he blurted out, retracting his magic as he reflectively wiped his face.

"A v-vampire? Like Duzell and Jasper?"

"I don't know who Jasper is, but yeah, she seems like Duzell," Daisuke chirped as he pulled out the wire again, twisting it into a keychain. He placed the Keyblade on the counter in order to steady it as he attached it to the hilt. He paused, brow furrowing as he looked up at the young woman. "Who IS Jasper anyway?"

The Kunoichi blushed faintly as she poked her fingers together. "He's a new vampire. He's an empath, so Tsunade-sama pull him on the council."

"An empath? So he senses emotion?"

"A-and projects them too. That's why Tsunade-sama wants him on the council." She giggled a little as she looked down. "He sparkles."

"Sparkles?"

"In the sunlight."

".......ok."

~......~.....~.....~

_'He must be gay.'_

'Dark!'

_'What? She said he sparkles! I'm just calling it as I see it!'_

'We don't know if he's gay! He may have had a wife before his world was destroyed.'

_'Married to what? A Seer?'_

"Lay off Dark! We don't even know this guy!"

A nearby pair of men raised an eyebrow at the young thief as they worked to close his food stand. Seeing him, the boy blushed a little. Those two were weird, but it was still embarrassing to be caught talking out loud, even if just by a pair of supposed Nations. Shaking his blond head, the older man tossed the boy an apple before ducking into his shop, closed for the night, the red-head a few steps behind him, whining about pasta."Thanks!" he called out before jogging off. He needed to get back to the inn, because the Heartless mostly came out at night.

Mostly.

Seemed that by thinking about them he had accidentally summoned them, because just outside the Inn, a trio of Heartless oozed out of the ground, attacking the boy before he could call up the Keyblade. Almost at once, they vanished in a poof of shadow and magic, Duzell frowning as he stepped out of the inn. "You're getting sloppy Daisuke."

"You seem to be a hero even here, Niwa-kun."

A hitched breath. An apple falling from a limp hand. Daisuke froze. 'It can't be...'

"What's wrong Niwa-kun? Surprised to see me?" Blue eyes all but glowed as the young blond stepped out of the shadows, normally stoic features relaxed as he grinned at the sight of his friend and rival, a wing-like sword tied to his back. "You have no clue how long I've searched for you."

"Satoshi!" Happily, the boy raced up to the blond, only to pause and purse his lips for a second. Much to Duzell's amusement and Satoshi's annoyance, he grabbed the boy's face and pulled on his cheeks. "Are you really real?"

"Hey, cut it out!" Satoshi snapped, batting the boy's hands away from his face.

He was cut off by the boy throwing his arms around him, face buried in his shoulder as he held back choking sobs. "I'm so glad you're ok..." he fianlly said. He lifted his face, hands on Satoshi's shoulders as he looked him in the eye. "When our world was destroyed, I thought you had been killed by the Heartless!"

The young man grinned as he pulled away from the boy. "Well, you and Dark aren't the only ones who are special you know," he joked, tapping the side of his head.

"I can't wait you you to meet my friends! We found Risa already. And then there's Gourry and Duzell and the Ninja!" Daisuke babbled. "Have you seen Riku? We haven't found her yet."

"No, I haven't." The young man huffed as he turned away for a second before grinning again. "I'm sure she's ok. If her twin survived, then there's no way she succumbed to the Darkness. Just stick with me Niwa-kun, we'll find her. I know th-"

He was cut off by the sound of a Heartless being cut in twain by a blade, and he turned around in time to see Daisuke heft the Keyblade over his shoulders. "You and Krad aren't the only ones who are special you know," he poked, grinning widely as Gourry came bumbling out of the inn.

"Daisuke, who is this guy?"

Wary eyes flicked up at Gourry as Satoshi backed up a step from the chirpy blond swordsman. "I should be asking that myself."

Daisuke grinned as he turned to his friends. "They've been helping me look for you! These are Duzell and Gourry!" The grin widened as he turned back to the young man. "You'll get to know them as well as I do while we look for Riku together!"

"He's not coming with us!"

Daisuke frowned as he turned to the vampire. "Why not? We have room in the ship!"

The vampire frowned as he looked at the young man. Something in his instincts told him not to trust the blond. "I refuse to let him!"

"What use is being the Keyblade Master if I can't even bring my friend with me?" He turned back to the blond in order to assure him that he was coming, only to stop. The young man was gone.

Gourry placed a hand on the young thief's shoulder as he frowned. "At least you know he's ok," he offered.

The young man sighed, but smiled as he looked up at the swordsman. "Yeah, and at least this gives me hope for seeing Riku and everyone else again."

~....~....~....~

"You see?It is just as I told you."

Satoshi stood frozen as he watched Daisuke from the inn's window as he joked with his new 'friends' and the assorted ninja and other inhabitants of Traverse Town. The red-head was laughing as two of the ninja wrestled, the dark-haired man trying to snatch a tomato from the blond.

The man behind Satoshi smirked from behind the monkey skull, the white pelt glowing in the darkness. "While you struggled to find your friend, he simply replaced you with, new companions." The demon placed a hand on Satoshi's shoulder as he leaned over to speak into his ear. "Forget them, and come with me. I will help you find what you're truly searching for, if you're willing to work for me..."

From inside the inn, Daisuke paused and turned to look outside, but all that greeted him were shadows...

* * *

**WORLDS THAT WILL NEVER BE**

**FALLOUT 3** (Thank you little sister)

_"Do it again!"_

"Dark, that's disgusting, stop it now!"

'I agree, stop telling Gourry to cut our arm off!'

_"But it's so frickin' useful! Come on Gourry, I want to see if I can grow it back again!"_

**OMAKE 2: BONDING OVER FRUIT (Yes, I went there)**_  
_

"Sasuke-kun, how can you stand this guy?"

"I have to agree Teme, he's just as bad as I am!"

The Uchiha smirked as he drapped am arm around the red-head's small shoulders. "Italy may be annoying, but it's impossible to hate someone else who love tomatoes."

OMAKE 3: NAMES

"So you're from Paris originally?"

"Oui. I'm worried for my family, only a few other Gypsies fell through with me."

Daisuke smiled as he picked up a quill. The natives had yet to find a source of graphite and lead for pencils. "Just give me some names and descriptions, and we'll keep an eye out!" he chirped.

Esmerelda smiled in relief. "My cousin Isa and my brother Lea. Isa just colored his hair blue, while Lea is a brunette like I. Blue eyes, and Lea with green."

"Anything else?"

"Isa tells fortunes with the stars, and Lea is a fire eater?"


End file.
